The World He Saw
by Moose96
Summary: Ignorance is bliss they say, especially in a brutal world like this. The Armored Titan left him for dead and all alone. His mental handicap will put him at the mercy of others but his strength will see him rise above all, from the nameless masses he will arise, to the liberator of man but even the strongest fall as war, betrayal, and death break him down. Based off AOT 2 Game.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is based off of the video game Attack on Titan 2 and the OC I made for it.**

**Spoiler warning for both game and anime**.

The bells of Shiganshina rung as citizens came running to see if the recent Survey Corps mission had been a success or another waste of lives and taxpayer money. Their question was soon answered upon seeing the significantly less amount of soldiers than had departed that morning. It wasn't just that, the people of the walls knew that great sacrifice was necessary for victory in this cruel world. It was the looks on the Scouts faces that told them this mission had been a completely and hilariously pathetic failure against the Titans whom had plagued mankind for the past century. In one of the windows overlooking the street. A young boy no more than eleven years old looked out the window. He was very large for his age, already standing at five and a half feet. He sported broad shoulders and a narrow waist which was lean and muscled very well. He had bright blue eyes and mahogany hair. His pale skin was free of moles or blemishes.

"Wow!" He cried looking at green cloaks sporting the Wings of Freedom insignia. He barely noticed the bloodied and bruised bodies of the soldiers. His name was Gabriel Heimer, He was mentally slow and had a rather low IQ and as a result had a hard time making friends. He had trouble in the local school and had to be pulled out and homeschooled due to bullying and academic struggling. His childhood had not been a good one, he was taken in by his Aunt Eva and Uncle Wilhelm when he was seven years old. He previously lived with his father who was an unstable and abusive alcoholic who lost his wife to a plague that scoured Shiganshina many years ago. He would often beat and terrorize Gabriel by saying "I'm gonna throw you to the Titans!" Or "The Titans are coming for you!" Obviously, as with any child, this promoted his aunt and uncle to take him away from his terrible father who passed away two years ago from liver failure due to his alcohol use. When Gabriel asked his aunt and uncle where his daddy went they would say "He went to heaven." To spare him of the cruel reality he lived in. Despite his cruel past and his disability, he was a kind child, ignorant to the cruelty of the world. He struggled in social environments and in almost anything from tying his shoes to trying to learn how to read and write. He had an exceptional sense of hearing and could often hear tiny whispers as if they were spoken loudly. He was obsessed with the Scout Regiment, particularly Captain Levi. He wanted to grow up and be just like him. He had nicknamed Levi 'Superman' due to his strength and how he seemed to fly with his fluency in Omni directional gear. Captain Levi however was not very fan friendly, he rarely walked through town and when anyone approached him he had a tendency to be rude and cold. He refused to give autographs or shake hands with anyone.

"Gabriel are you in here?" His aunt Eva cried out.

"Yeah!" He said as she opened the door to see Gabriel surrounded by wooden toy horses and books about the Scout Regiment. Gabriel has always been fascinated by the ODM gear and the bravery of the soldiers who used it to fight the Titans. He had studied as much as he could about the ODM gear. He had wanted one for his birthday but they were not available to the public for use. Even if it was, it was not likely to be at a price Gabriel's family could afford. "Look auntie! It's Superman!" He cried out pointing to Captain Levi through the window who was surrounded by bloodied soldiers and a wagon full of corpses. Eva immediately rushed and closed the window not wanting her nephew to see that.

"When I grow up I'm gonna be as strong as him!" Gabriel proclaimed. His aunt felt her breath stop. She'd be damned if she allowed her nephew to go anywhere near those monstrous Titans. Even if she wanted him to join the Scouts, she doubted they would even take him given his disability. She saw the Scout Regiment as foolhardy. Not once had they ever managed a victory against the Titans. Not once had they ever returned without over half their force killed. Not once had they learned anything about the Titans other than their insatiable lust for human flesh. It was just not possible to beat them. Even with a million men and women it would not be possible. There was an entire world worth of Titans out there. Millions, probably even billions of the mindless monsters wandering to find a human to snack on.

"Gabe." She said looking at her nephew. He was as tall as her now, and he was only eleven years old and bound to keep growing taller. He was such a sweet boy, it pained her to think about what kind of life he was gonna have when he got older. He struggled in nearly everything, cooking, forging, teaching, and many more. The only thing he seemed to be good at was physical exercise and sword technique. She had watched him use two long rods and pretend he was fighting titans. The way he effortlessly jumped and vaulted across everything was nothing short of impressive. She could only imagine what he'd be like with ODM gear. Maybe being a soldier was his calling but even so,

She could not bear the thought of a Titan biting down on his head.

Most of the Scouts had no family baggage. They were orphans or they had no spouse or kids waiting at home for them. So dedicated they were to liberating humanity from the Titans they abandoned everything. Despite seeing the Scouts as foolish, she no doubt held great respect for them. She had seen how incompetent the Garrison is with troops being drunk on duty and how terribly corrupt the Military Police are with members accepting bribes and allowing crimes to occur. The Scout Regiment seemed to be the only one which actually had people acting as proper soldiers. The Scouts were rare in that they were the only humans to ever see a Titan. Eva had never seen one herself but she saw what they were capable of.

"Don't you know how dangerous it is?" She then asked her nephew.

"Yeah but Captain Levi is never scared!" Gabe said. Eva sighed, such childlike naivety to think people just didn't feel fear. She was sure even Captain Levi himself had butterflies in his stomach whenever he departed for a mission.

"Captain Levi is an exception." She said. Along with never seeing a Titan, no one other than the Scouts had seen Levi in action. From what other Scouts said, he was inhuman in how easily he dispatched of Titans. There was no official number for his Titan kill count but it easily in the hundreds. She figured he had to be the best, since he was still alive. There weren't many people his age in the survey corps for a good reason

"But I'm no good at anything else!" Gabe said whimpering. "I can't read or write and I can't run a store like Uncle Wilhelm!"

"You'll find something you're good at sweetie." Eva said hugging her nephew. "It just takes time for some people, your uncle was twice your age when he opened his store."

"Yeah but he's-" A deafening boom echoed across the district as Eva and Gabe fell to the ground from the shockwave. They could hear screams outside as massive chunks of rock slammed in the town flattening buildings and people in the process. Eva ran for Gabe and covered him with her body till the rumbling stopped.

"What the hell was that?" She yelled. The only thing she could figure was the Garrison doing cannon practice and there was serious misfire. Eva then was interrupted by blood curdling screams of pure terror. She gulped knowing that no one screamed like that unless it was something serious.

"EVA! GABE!" A tall man with black hair said nearly breaking the door down. He was sweating and breathing heavily from running.

"Wilhelm! What is going on?!" Eva asked as Gabriel was crying in the corner.

"We have to go now!" He cried grabbing them and pulling them out of the house. Eva had no idea what was going on till she looked around once they were outside. She nearly fainted at what she saw

"RUN! THE TITANS ARE COMING!" Hordes of people stampeded like sheep running from a wolf. They shoved and pushed, losing all semblance of behavior as their bodies moved on their own to avoid the brutal death that awaited should they falter.

"Let's go!" Wilhelm yelled as the three began to run away. The sounds of screaming and the vibrations of the Titans footsteps filled the district. Gabriel looked wide eyed to see a fifteen meter Titan bending over and then bringing a woman to its mouth. Wilhelm looked and didn't see a single member of the Garrison fighting the Titans.

"Just as I figured!" He thought angrily. "Lazy bastards drinking on duty probably forgot how to even use their gear!" He has long been critical of the Garrisons blatant disregard for the threat of the Titans. Had they actually been doing their job instead of slacking off all day then the Titans wouldn't be advancing as fast as they were. If the Scout Regiment was here than these damned Titans wouldn't make it five feet before being shredded. The Scouts were the only dependable Regiment in the military. He was thankful his house was midway up through the district. He doubted anyone who was near the breach was still alive at this point. He had seen the massive Titan which peered over the wall and kicked in the gate allowing the monsters to flood in. He didn't stick around long to ask questions. As soon as he saw that hole in the wall, he sprinted for dear life to find his family and get the hell out of there!

"We are almost at the gate! Come on!" He yelled to his family as they ran closer to the gate to Wall Maria. Gabriel kept stealing back glances and could see the Titans standing over the buildings with people in their massive hands getting ready to bite down on them with their grotesque jaws.

"STOP IT! NOOOOOOOOO!" He heard the voice of a young boy screamed. He looked to the left and only a few blocks away stood a fifteen meter Titan with yellow hair raising a woman to its mouth. Gabriel didn't look away as the Titan snapped the woman's back like a twig before biting down on her, sending blood spewing everywhere. Gabriel felt tears sting his eyes as he tried to resist the urge to vomit. His uncle then grabbed him and forced his head to face forward.

"Don't look back! We are only a few blocks away from the gate!" Wilhelm screamed. The trio finally made their way to the gate and departed into Wall Maria, the three finally let out a sigh of relief. The Titans wouldn't be able to get through the gate once it was closed. They started to walk towards the boat as cannon fire erupted from the other side of the wall.

"What's that?" Eva asked feeling the ground begin to shake.

"It's just that Titans on the other side." Wilhelm assured her.

"I-it sounds like it is getting closer!" She cried as she saw a group of Garrison soldiers running for their lives as the gate closed behind them.

"RETREAT! SHUT THE GATE NOOOOOOOOOOW!" The soldier screamed, his voice cracking due to the sheer terror of what was happening.

"What the hell?!" Wilhelm yelled. "What has these guys so spooked?"

"WERE BEING CHARGED! GO GO GO GOOOOOOOOO!" Upon hearing the word charged the gate to Wall Maria burst open sending large rocks flying everywhere. Gabriel looked up in terror to see a large chunk of the gate coming down to land on him. He gulped, he didn't want to die! He then felt himself being pushed out of the way. He looked up to see his Uncle Wilhelm get smashed underneath the rock with a splatter of blood.

"UNCLE!" He screamed as Eva grabbed him.

"GO TO THE BOAT GABRIEL NOW-" Her voice was cut short as a massive foot stomped down on where she was standing. Gabriel looked up to see a massive Titan covered in armor. The Titan looked down at Gabriel. Gabriel was shivering in fear right now. This monster had killed his family and was staring him down. Gabriel gulped as he felt a surge or courage run through him. He slowly stood up and roared as he brought his hands up to fight the Titan. He was not good at much, but fighting was one thing he excelled in.

"AHHHHH!" He yelled as he was suddenly scooped and saw himself lunged into the air. He continued to scream till he noticed an arm around his midsection. He looked to see a Garrison soldier with short blonde hair carrying him to safety. From this point in the air, Gabriel could see all the dead bodies and damage. He whimpered a small scream as he felt his feet hit solid ground.

"Got another one!" The Garrison soldier cried to the boat which was filled with citizens. Gabriel was ushered into the boat where he could others giving into terror. He looked back to see the Armored Titan had disappeared. His good hearted nature melted away as he angrily slammed his fists into the boats railing causing the railing to crack under his strength.

"Y-you killed my Uncle and Auntie!" He grunted. "I'll! I'll get you for thiiiiiiiissss!" He yelled at the Titan who had long since disappeared. He then fell back and cried into his arms. "J-j-Just wait till Superman gets youuuu!"

"Where were you Superman? Why didn't you save my Auntie and my Uncle?!"

"W-where am I-I gonna go now?" He asked to no one in particular.

He was alone now, alone in this cruel and unfair world.

R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The fall of Wall Maria spread like wildfire across the walls. People fled for their lives to Wall Rose as the Titans poured into the previously held human territory like an out of control faucet. Troops were deployed everywhere to help in evacuation and to try to thin the number of Titans coming through. Aside from the loss of human life, the fall of Wall Maria held other issues. Wall Maria held the land most suitable for farming and keeping livestock. As a result of the loss, a lack in food supply led to small rations barely enough to keep people alive and the price of food skyrocketing to the point only those within the safety of Wall Sina could enjoy. The influx of refugees didn't help either. There was no plan for a wall breach as it was unthinkable. For one hundred years the mighty walls kept the Titans at bay. No one had ever considered the possibility of a Titan that could break down the wall. Gabriel found himself at a plaza where rations were being handed out. He was so hungry, his large size demanded many calories to keep his growing body stable. He hadn't eaten in at least two days. He could see a noticeable decrease in body mass along with headaches and pains. Living in Shiganshina, he never had access to good food but it was enough to keep him full. Now, he would eat a decaying rat corpse if it meant satisfying the empty feeling growing in his belly. He still couldn't get the image of the Armored Titan killing his aunt and uncle out of his head. He was so scared, alone in this world. No place to go to find love or sleep, no food to keep his stomach full, nowhere to feel safe. His home, family, and everything had been torn away from him. His mental handicap often kept him from being able to process just how cruel this world was, in a way it was a blessing that he would never succumb to the hopelessness and despair that had consumed so many. Now seeing it first hand, he had his innocence robbed.

"S-s-stupid T-titans!" He stuttered. He had felt an emotion he never had before in his life.

Hatred, pure raw hatred.

He hated the Titans, he especially hated the Armored Titan. He was happy with his family, and they took it from him. Even worse, his hero, Superman (Captain Levi) wasn't there to save his family. It was too much for him. The hunger, the pain, the loss, it all made him fall down and curl in a ball, waiting for deaths sweet merciful embrace.

"Hey are you okay?" A voice asked. Gabriel looked up to see a blonde haired boy with blue eyes holding his hand out. "You look hungry."

"Mm-hmm" Gabriel modded weakly. The blonde boy smiled as he gave him a half loaf of bread. "I know it isn't much but it should help." Gabriel looked up in gratitude.

"F-For me?" He asked pointing to himself. He had so little interaction with people he was nervous. He didn't want the stranger to hurt him.

"Yes, we were able to get a little extra." The boy said happily. Gabriel slowly grabbed the piece of bread and bit into it. Finally feeling and tasting food after days brought him great joy. He viciously hounded down on the bread while letting out tears of gratitude. He wolfed down the bread, while it wasn't enough to satisfy the emptiness he felt in his stomach, he could already feel the food increasing his energy.

"T-t-Thank y-y-you!" Gabriel cried hugging the boys legs. Since his family died, he had received no compassion from anyone.

"It's okay." The boy said. "My name is Armin Artlert, what's is yours?"

"G-g-Gabriel H-Heimer." Gabriel said. He was having issues with his speech again, he was a heavy stutterer as a child and he got control of it for a while but everything that had happened had made it come back.

"It's nice to meet you Gabriel." Armin said. "Do you want to meet my friends?"

"F-friends?" Gabriel asked. He never had any friends, just hearing the word brought him comfort.

"Yeah!" Armin said. "Eren! Mikasa!" He called out as he waved his hand. Gabriel turned to see a boy with black hair and an angry look on his face with a very pretty girl with long black hair.

"Whose this?" Mikasa asked.

"This is Gabriel." Armin said as Gabriel got to his feet. The three were immediately shocked by how tall he was.

"H-h-hi." He said. He was extremely nervous around new people.

"You look familiar." Eren said. "Are you from Shiganshina?"

"Y-yeah." Gabriel stuttered. Hearing this made the other three understand why he was alone. His parents probably died in the attack. Eren and Mikasa both sympathized with him. They too had seen their family taken from them.

"Are you alone?" Mikasa asked. Gabriel nodded his head. It was bad enough for the three of them but they at least had each other, Gabriel on the other hand was completely on his own.

"How about you stick with us?" Eren asked. "We don't have much but it's better than being on your own."

"R-really?" Gabriel stuttered again. "Y-you want t-t-to be my f-friend?"

"Sure!" Eren spiked. Gabriel gulped, he never had a friend before. He raised himself to his full height and towered over the other children.

"Woah!" Armin said seeing Gabriel's full height. "How old are you if you don't mind me asking?"

"E-eleven y-years old!" He said.

"Eleven? Man I thought you were like 18 or something!" Eren said shocked. "You're built like a strongman!"

"I w-wanted to b-be a S-scout." Gabriel said. "I a-always t-trained at home."

"You want to be a Scout too?" Eren beamed. Finally someone who actually wanted to destroy the Titans. Not some hopeless cattle who wanted to flee to the interior.

"T-the A-Armored Titan." Gabriel said angrily as he clenched his fist. "He killed my auntie and uncle, I'm gonna get him for that!" The trio took note that when angry, Gabriel didn't stutter anymore.

"The Colossal Titan killed my mother, the chunk of the wall he kicked down trapped her so she wasn't able to run away." Eren replied. "I'm going to kill them all!"

"Me too!" Gabriel cried. Mikasa and Armin watched as the two clapped each other's hands.

"W-What about you t-two?" Gabriel asked returning to his stuttering.

"Wherever Eren goes, I go to!" Mikasa declared proudly.

"O-oh are y-you g-g-guys boyfriend a-and girlfriend?" Gabriel asked causing Mikasa to burn red and Erens jaw to drop. It also got a chuckle out of Armin.

"NO!" Eren yelled in embarrassment. Like most kids his age, the idea of romance and the opposite gender was gross. Mikasa stood back twirling her hair with her finger as Armin couldn't contain himself. "She's my sister! That's gross!"

"Oh I-I'm sorry!" Gabriel apologized. "I-it's j-j-Just you t-two don't l-look alike."

"She's his adopted sister, they aren't related by blood." Armin said as he explained to Gabriel the circumstances of Mikasa staying with Eren. How Traffickers had come to kidnap her and killed her family in the process. Eren wound up saving her and she came to live with him.

"That's s-sad." Gabriel said walking up and hugging Mikasa. The girl was caught off guard by this and didn't know what to.

"A-auntie would h-hug me when I-I w-w-w-was sad and I'd f-feel b-better." Gabriel explained. Mikasa was touched by the kind gesture. She smiled as she returned the hug. It felt good to know a person they just met was kind. Once they broke the hug Gabriel turned to Eren.

"So s-since she's not b-blood y-you could s-still m-marry her r-r-right?" He asked. It was like the old fairy tales he would read as a kid when the brave knight rescues the beautiful princess.

"DAMMIT NOOOOO!" Eren screamed grabbing his hair as the group burst out laughing.

Xxx

Everyone all the way to the capitol felt the after effects of the Titans attack. Too many people and not enough food to go around. Riots and civil unrest broke out to the point the military was barely able to keep order. The loss of Wall Maria meant the loss of endless farmland to grow food. As a result, the government ordered a massive operation under the guise of retaking Wall Maria, all the able bodied men and women refugees were conscripted in a mission which enlisted 250,000 people including Armin's grandfather. Due to the lack of training with ODM gear the conscripted had it had been a slaughter fest, only 200 returned alive. People had been given only a week of the very basic directions for using the gear when soldiers spent three years learning how to master it. The operation wasn't a complete loss however as the massive decrease in mouths to feed lessened the food crisis and the kingdom slowly stabilized.

"I-I'm s-sorry A-Armin." Gabriel said to his friend who was grieving the loss of his grandfather.

"Thanks." He sniffled. Gabriel decided to find him a gift to cheer him up. He had no money though, whatever food they got was from daily rations and they spent their time staying in a shelter.

"I-I'll be r-right back." Gabriel said as he got up and exited the shelter. He eventually made his way outside and tried to figure out what he could get Armin.

"Hey!" Gabriel turned to see Eren with Mikasa. The two had gone out to get fresh air, well actually Eren had gone and Mikasa insisted on staying with him.

"Hi!" He called back to him.

"What are you doing out here?" Mikasa asked.

"A-armins u-upset so I-I wanted to get h-him a g-g-gift to c-cheer him u-up." Gabriel explained. Mikasa felt her chest warm up, he was such a sweet boy.

"Wow that's really nice of you." Eren said. "What were you thinking of getting him?"

"I -d-don't know." Gabriel said. "I-I d-don't have a-any money."

"None of us do." Eren replied. They were too young to be allowed to do any kind of work and relied on the shelter to keep them full and give them a place to sleep. They had about a year till they were either conscripted or sent to work the fields.

"Maybe we can find something in the forest? Like a flower or something?" Mikasa suggested.

"Armin isn't a girl Mikasa! Why would he want a stupid flower?" Eren angrily asked. Mikasa merely hid her face, like always unwilling to be mean back to him. Gabriel frowned, he didn't like when Eren was mean like that.

"D-Don't be s-s-so m-mean." Gabriel said.

"Erh whatever." Eren said. Mikasa then put her hand on Gabriel's shoulder.

"It's okay." She said. "I know he didn't mean it, he just gets, very passionate about how he feels."

"M-mommies a-a-and d-daddies shouldn't b-be mean to e-each o-other though." Gabriel explained. Once again Mikasa ignited red at what Gabriel was inferring. No matter how many times he was told otherwise, he seemed convinced that Eren and Mikasa were gonna get married. The group continued to walk till Gabriel wasn't looking and bumped into a bigger man in a suit. Gabriel was big enough so that he didn't fall over completely but it was enough to knock him off his feet for a second.

"Watch it you fucking brat!" The man yelled.

"S-s-sorry s-sir!" Gabriel said dusting his clothes off.

"Oh great, another retard." The man cruelly said. "The hell are you supposed to contribute huh? Can't walk, can't even speak properly. Should have sent you on that stupid reclamation job."

Being called a retard hit home with Gabriel. He had grown immune to most insults but retard was the one word that stung hard.

"I-I'm n-not s-stupid!" Gabriel tried to say.

"N-n-n-n-not stupid!" The man said mocking Gabriel's stutter. "Only use you have in this world is being Titan feed!"

"What the hells your problem?!" Eren yelled as he kicked the man as hard as he could in the shin.

"You little!" The man yelled as he punched Eren square in the face. Gabriel looked wide eyed to see Eren fall to the ground. Mikasa growled as he prepared to move in to protect Eren but didn't have time to react as Gabriel slammed into the man. The man backed up as Gabriel grabbed his wrists and pinned him against a wall. The adult tried to get free but this kid had an iron grip!

"Don't hurt my friends!" Gabriel yelled in the man's face. His stutter now gone due to his anger.

"What the hells going on here?!" They all turned to see a blonde Garrison soldier with a small moustache stubble. Gabriel looked and recognized the man as the one who pulled him away from the Armored Titan all those months ago.

"Hannes!" Eren cried seeing the old family friend come over. Normally Hannes was too busy drinking or playing cards with his fellow troops to care much for feuds but ever since Wall Maria fell he was reminded constantly of his failure to rescue Erens mother, he had begun to take his job more seriously.

"What's the big idea picking on some kids?" Hannes scolded the man.

"They-" The man tried to say.

"Dont, I saw the whole thing, get outta here before I have the MPs come arrest you!" Hannes said as the man ran away.

"T-thank you!" Gabriel said in gratitude.

"No problem, leave it to that one to start a fight." Hannes said pointing to Eren who frowned at the comment. "Say you look familiar."

"Y-y-you rescued m-me from the A-Armored T-titan!" Gabriel replied.

"Well how about that? Glad to see you're doing alright." Hannes said. He was glad this child survived. If there was one thing he did right that day it was saving these kids.

"Hannes are you drunk again?" Eren mocked.

"Shut up Eren! Only off duty now." Hannes said. "Where's Armin at?"

"Gabriel wanted to get him a gift to cheer him up about his grandpa." Mikasa explained. "Eren and I tagged along with."

"Well, ain't that nice of you?" Hannes laughed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some gold bits. "You guys can use this, I'm sure it'll make him feel good."

"I-I-I c-can't t-take t-this." Gabriel said as Hannes put the gold coins in his hand.

"Heh trust me, I'd probably just be spending that on booze later." Hannes admitted before going up to Eren and Mikasa. "Mikasa you keep this little guy outta trouble." He said patting Erens head. "And take care of you friend there, he seems to be a little slow but he's got a good heart."

"I intend to." Mikasa said firmly as Hannes took off. The two went back up to Gabriel.

"So what d-d-does A-Armin like?" He asked showing them money Hannes gave him.

Xxx

"Thanks so much guys!" Armin said. Using the money Hannes gave them the trio decided to get Armin a decent meal. At first Eren thought of getting him a book but figured a full stomach would be more beneficiary. Armin insisted on sharing but the other three refused. Armin let out a sigh as he felt full for the first time in months.

"It was Gabriel's idea." Mikasa said smiling to her kind hearted friend.

"Really? You didn't have to do that." Armin said.

"Y-you w-were s-sad." Gabriel said. "I w-wanted to c-c-c-cheer you up."

"You're a good friend Gabriel." Armin said. Gabriel eyes watered at the mention of the word friend. He was so happy he had buddies in this world.

"Well we all know what's next." Eren said standing up. "The Scouts!"

"Y-yeah!" Gabriel said with the same enthusiasm.

"But we are still too young." Armin said.

"Well work these damn fields for the next year, and then we will begin our training." Eren explained.

"So you guys are set huh?" Armin asked the group. He knew Eren and Gabriel had a personal vendetta with the Colossal and Armored Titans respectively so they were dead set on the Scouts.

"I'll go wherever Eren does." Mikasa added in.

"Well, I'm gonna join too then!" Armin proudly said. "I may not be as strong or as brave as the rest of you but I'll do my best!"

"We are gonna do it!" Eren said. "We're gonna finally escape these walls and see the world!"

"My buddies." Gabriel said coming up from behind and embracing all three with his freakishly long armspan. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were shocked at first but appreciated the gesture as the four embraced tightly. As long as they stick together, nothing, not even the Titans would stop them.

**One Year Later.**

The day had finally come, a year of hard field work which helped to build muscle and endurance had culminated to this moment. Gabriel had some issues enlisting due to his mental condition, they eventually decided to let him in figuring at the least he could be cannon fodder. The four friends stood at attention with a large group of other recruits in the hot sun.

"HEADS UP MAGGOTS!" A tall and intimidating man roared. His bald head and sunken in eyes told the world he had certainly seen some heavy shit in his day. "IM COMMANDANT SHADIS AND OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS YOU WILL COME TO HATE ME! IF IVE DONE MY JOB RIGHT THAN YOULL HAVE NIGHTMARES OF THE PLACE FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIVES!" Gabriel gulped. He didn't like when people screamed like that, it reminded him of his father whenever he drank the 'bad juice' as Gabriel had called it. He had grown a lot in the past year, standing now at 6'5, literally towering over everyone except the Commandant himself who had one inch on him. His muscles were large and lean as his hair was combed back with a small strand curled in the front. He looked around to see Eren next to him and a small brunette girl on the other side. Mikasa stood across from him, she was between a taller blonde haired guy and a short blonde haired girl. The Commandant when around getting into different kids faces and screaming at them. Gabruel felt a mosquito land on his face so he brought his hand up to shoo it away which immediately caught the attention of the Commandant who homed in like a heat seeking missile from the aspiring Military Police cadet he had just head butted to the ground.

"You there!" He screamed as she stomped over to Gabriel who quickly brought his hand back knowing he was in trouble. "Who the hell said you could move?!"

"I-I'm s-sorry!" Gabriel said. Keith growled looking the boy up and down.

"Look at you! What're you a mutant? You could pass for a damn Titan with you height! Was your mother a Titan fucker or something?" Shadis sadistically yelled with a horrifically angry look on his face. It was his job to weed out the ones who couldn't handle pressure and build up the ones who could.

"B-But w-we are t-t-the same h-height! W-wouldn't t-that m-m-make you and your m-mommy one t-t-too?" Gabriel asked innocently.

"_No Gabriel!" _Mikasa thought worried what was gonna happen to him. Keith's jaw dropped. Never in his years had a recruit talked back to him so matter of factly. While the cadets had the discipline to not say a word, collective 'oh shit!' could practically be heard around the area. Shadis was actually at a loss for words. He was a pro at knowing exactly what to scream so no matter how the cadets answered, they were wrong but this… He just couldn't think of anything to say.

"YOU-" He began to say as he heard a hard much. He looked to the right of Gabriel and saw a brunette girl munching on a potato. Keith was mind blown, first this one talks back to him, and now this one is just straight up eating a snack? What the hell was the world coming too?!

"Hey you there." He said deceptively calm. He was eternally grateful that he had an excuse to walk away from Gabriel lest the cadets he should be intimidating see him lose his bearing. "YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON MY SHITLIST! JUST WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?"

"Sasha Braus from Dauper Village! At your service sir!" She said After gulping and holding the potato in her hand while saluting.

"I see, and what's that you got there?" Shadis asked.

"A potato, it was laying in the mess hall begging to be eaten!" She replied.

"A theft I understand." Shadis said trying to keep his mind from imploding. "But why eat it here of all places?" He asked as if he was trying to solve a complex math equation.

"It looked quite delicious, and it was growing cold, so I gave it shelter in my stomach." The fuel known as Sasha said back. The entire crowd was trying not to laugh, Sasha and Gabriel were giving this drill sergeant a once in a lifetime fuckup.

"Why? I can't comprehend why you would eat that potato!" Shadis said.

"Are you asking me why people eat potatoes sir?" Sasha asked.

"_Sweet mother of God you dumb bitch!"_ Shadis thought. He saw Sasha break off a piece of potato and offer it to him with a smile on her face.

**Xxx**

The rest of the day went smoothly for everyone, well except for Gabriel and Sasha who had been ordered to run till they collapsed.

"Man I thought Shadis was gonna kill Potato Girl and Stutter Boy." A shorter boy with a shaved head said.

"Knock it off Conny." Eren growled. "He has trouble speaking sometimes."

"Wait is he?" Conny asked as Eren and Armin nodded their heads. "Oh, now I feel like an asshole."

"He has trouble with things, he sometimes gets confused and he has trouble speaking." Armin explained.

"No offense but how is he going to survive Titans when he's like that?" Another girl with black pig tails asked.

"He's strong." Eren said. "You may not see it now but when he fights he is unbeatable. He also has a score to settle with the Armored Titan."

"Wait you don't mean?" The girl asked again.

"He was there with us, in Shiganshina." Eren said. The crowd gasped as the filed inside and began to ask Eren a multitude of questions regarding the Titans. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Sasha had both finished their punishment runs as they came to a crawl. Gabriel heaved desperate for oxygen to fuel his large frame. He saw Sasha slowly come to a stop before she started to sway side to side. Gabriel wasted no time in rushing in and wrapping his arm around her midsection before she hit the ground effectively catching her before she harmed herself.

"A-are you o-okay?" He asked heaving for breath. Sasha felt a large arm wrapped around her midsection as her face was inches away from the ground.

"S-s-sooo t-tired." She muttered barely keeping her eyes open.

"S-s-Sasha?" He asked trying to shake her awake but it was no use as she caved to exhaustion and passed out. Gabriel pondered what he should do, he definitely couldn't leave her out here. He looked around and decided he would just carry her. He scooped the girl in his arms and carried as she laid her head on his chest. The only sound was her breath trying to recover lost oxygen. Gabriel made sure she was snug and began carrying her to, Wait a minute, he didn't know where the girls room was!

**R&R**

**Question of the week.**

**If Mike was the second be soldier, why wasnt he in Levis squad?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"W-What do I-I do?" He asked himself. Should he go to the Commandant? No, he would yell at them again. Eren? He didn't know where he was. This was gonna be hard. The sun had set as he aimlessly wandered carrying the potato girl in his arms. It wasn't until he saw a small blonde girl carrying some supplies he had an idea.

"E-e-excuse me miss." He asked. "W-where is the g-g-girls r-room?" The blonde girl looked up and gasped at Gabriel height and size.

"W-What are you doing with her?" The girl asked fearing he was planning on taking advantage.

"She f-fell asleep a-after running. I've s-spent all day trying t-t-t-to find her r-room." Gabriel explained. The girl let out a breath of relief as she looked back up to him.

"I'm Christa, you were really sweet to help her but you must be exhausted. Here, I got some water and foo-" Before Christa could finish her response, Sasha seemingly came back from the dead and hurled herself like a ravenous Titan and ripped the bread from her hands. Gabriel jumped in shock, he was not expecting that!

"RAHAGAH!" Sasha growled as she tore at the bread like a wild animal.

"Careful! I brought some water too!" Christa said smiling as Gabriel felt his cheeks rush.

"Wow, y-y-you l-l-look l-like an a-angel." Gabriel said in all honesty. Christa blushed, she had been told many times how pretty she was but from this boy, it was so much more genuine.

"Thank you." She said. "I brought you something too, you must be exhausted." She pulled out another loaf hoping Sasha wouldn't see it and lunge for it like a rabid animal. She offered it to the tall boy who gratefully accepted it. Aside from carrying Sasha for a while, he too had been running all day. After he finished his bread he began to walk away towards the boys barracks before being patted on the back. He turned to see Sasha looking up at him.

"Thank you for catching me." She said. Sasha didn't remember much of it, just that his arm had caught her before she hit the ground. She looked up and him and smiled. "What was your name again?"

"G-g-Gabriel H-h-h-Heimer." Gabriel said. He stuttered even more when talking to girls. The only girl he had talked to had been Mikasa who he viewed as his own sister.

"I'm Sasha if you missed it." Sasha said. "We ought to be getting to bed now, I'll see ya tomorrow!"

"G-g-goodnight!" Gabriel said as she Sasha walked off with Christa. Gabriel yawned as he made it to the boys barracks where he saw everyone huddled around Eren who was just trying to eat some dinner while getting barraged with questions about the Titans.

"I heard he stepped over the wall completely!" Someone asked referring to Colossal Titan to which Eren internally sighed.

"Ah come on He was big but he wasn't THAT big." Eren said as he saw Gabriel walk in. "Hey Gabriel!" He said waving him over. Gabriel was happy to see his friend and walked over to him to sit down. "I made sure to save you your dinner." Eren said pushing over a bowl of soup. "It's probably cold now but it's better than nothing." Gabriel nodded to him as he sat down finally able to rest his body. He scooped up the cold vegetable soup and relished the feeling of food, he was far too familiar with the feeling of an empty stomach.

"So what about the Armored Titan? The one that busted down Wall Maria?" A blonde haired boy with pronounced sideburns asked. Gabriel dropped his spoon and slowly stood up. Eren looked up and knew of Gabriel's vendetta with the Armored Titan and immediately jumped in.

"That's enough Thomas!" Eren yelled as Gabriel began fidgeting and clenching his fists. His vision went back in time to see the Armored Titan looking down on him after murdering his aunt and uncle as if it was laughing at him.

"Are you al-" Thomas said when Gabriel brought his massive fists down and shattered the wood it impacted igniting a shriek from everyone. The display of brute strength was enough to send even Eren reeling back.

"You okay big guy?" Eren asked. Gabriel appeared to snap out of his trance to see Eren looking up worriedly at him.

"I-I-I'm o-okay." Gabriel said as he slowly walked outside to get some air. He could hear more commotion coming from inside as he heard someone approach him. He turned to see a short boy with a shaved head walking over to him.

"Hey Heimer." The boy known as Conny greeted.

"H-h-hello." Gabriel responded. Hearing his stutter made Conny feel bad about calling him 'Stutter Boy' earlier.

"So uh what's up?" Conny asked. He really wanted to know what the Titans were like in Shiganshina but knew better than to ask right now.

"Um well." Gabriel pondered. "The sky is r-r-really h-high up." Conny chuckled, not in a demeaning way but he was amused at the guys innocence.

"It's a saying, like what's going on with you." Conny explained.

"Oooooohhh." Gabriel said widening his eyes out of wonder. "W-well n-not m-much."

"You're a pretty cool dude you know that?" Connie said patting Gabriel on the back.

"R-really?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, you're a nice guy, I think you'll do good here." Connie complimented.

"T-t-Thanks!" Gabriel said happily.

"Well we best be off to bed, see ya tomorrow!" Connie said walking off.

Xxx

"What was that all about?" Someone asked in reference to Gabriel's outburst.

"He was there." Eren said. "He was there when the Armored Titan broke the wall and killed his family, he looked that bastard right in the eye."

"Woah really?" The pig tailed girl named Mina asked.

"Yeah, no one hates the Armored Titan more than he does." Eren sipping his drink. "We made a pact a year ago, that we would kill the Armored and Colossal Titan."

"Right good luck with that." A voice said as all eyes turned to its source. There sat a taller boy with sandy hair and a long face.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Eren said standing up.

"Just being honest here, the military couldn't take them down so what makes you think you can?" He said with a smirk.

"You, you were the one who wanted to join the MPs right?" Eren scoffed. "Sitting in the interior on my ass ain't my style."

"Acting tough like I'm not scared shitless like the rest of us isn't my style." The boy smirked again.

"You wanna go friend?" Eren challenged rising to his full height.

"Hehe oh all right." The boy said walking over as the sound of the bell signaling lights out. The two boys looked at each other in the eye before the sandy haired one sighed.

"Look, I'm not here to make enemies." He said holding up his hand. "Names Jean, sorry I insulted you."

"Yeah, sorry." Eren said clapping Jeans hand. It was quite obvious however that neither actually had meant it. The cadets all went to their respective beds and quickly fell asleep.

Xxx

The next day they were assembled in the morning after physical training to an area containing several odd looking contraptions, these were designed to test their aptitude for the ODM gear. The contraptions consisted of raising the person using cables to test their balance. If someone couldn't get this right than they were deemed useless in combat and would be sent home. Each cadet took their turn with some excelling like Mikasa who lie as limp asa doll while maintaining perfect balance. Shadis gripped his pen tight as Gabriel walked up, he had been eager to send this kid home since his comment yesterday. Shadis had learned that Gabriel had mental slowness and didn't believe he belonged on the battlefield. Gabriel locked in his gear and was hoisted up. Shadis was amazed to say the least when the boy maintained near perfect form, while not as good as Mikasa, he held on much better than anyone else in the cadet corps. Shadis had to admit he was impressed.

At least until a certain black haired boy completely botched the test by falling down in every manner possible. Eren was mortified, he couldn't screw this up! Not after all that pep talk! The day went on as he continued to fail with Shadis telling him he had one more chance tomorrow to do it right. Eren was very nervous, he couldn't even fathom a life not in the Survey Corps. That night he went around asking for help.

"Come on Gabriel help me out here!" Eren pleaded. Gabriel didn't know what to say, for him it wasn't too difficult, just find your center of balance and you're good.

"S-s-sorry I-I don't know w-what to a-say." He said rubbing the back of his head. He really did want to help. Mikasa and Armin hadnt been able to offer much help either. Eren eventually had to resort to asking the resident jack ass for help.

"Come in guys!" Eren begged swallowing his pride as Jean and Conny snickered at him.

"Weren't you the one who said those who can't hack should leave?" Conny said smugly.

"You managed to screw up just in every way possible!" Jean taunted. Eren was torn between the anxiety of being sent home and wanting to punch Jean in his smug horse face. Gabriel came walking by hearing the commotion and didn't like Jeans attitude.

"S-stop b-being m-m-mean." He stuttered. Jean laughed as he turned around.

"Oh great, what are you gonna do to me-HOLY SHIT!" Jean said as he looked up at Gabriel's massive muscular body.

"Oh hey Gabriel." Connie waved. Jean put a brave face back on stared Gabriel in the face.

"What? Not my fault Erens a retard!" Jean said oblivious to Gabriel's mental handicap. Gabriel's eyes quickly turned sad as he looked down.

"What the hell man?" Connie yelled at an oblivious Jean.

"What did I do?" He asked. Connie just shook his head as he saw Eren growl at him. Jean put two and two together with the stuttering and the word he used and realized what he did.

"Oh shit!" He said feeling guilt wash

over him. Gabriel walked away with Eren Armin leaving Jean to wallow in guilt. The trio walked around asking for advice on the aptitude test and found themselves talking with a tall muscular blonde boy named Reiner Braun and a taller black haired boy named Bertholdt Hoover.

"Come on! I heard you guys a really good at it!" Eren said.

"Sorry can't really give you any tips." Reiner said sympathetically.

"I-it's o-Okay E-Eren." Gabriel said. "Y-y-youll g-get it and w-we c-c-can stop the A-Armored a-and C-c-Colossal t-t-Titans." This caught Reiner and Bertholdts attention as they looked at the two.

"That's right." Bertholdt said. "You guys were there, that day. You've already seen the terror of the Titans, how you gather the courage to face them again?"

"They took my home and killed my mother." Eren growled. "I'm going to exterminate them all and liberate us from this cage."

"And how about you?" Reiner asked Gabriel.

"The A-Armored." Gabriel paused as anger took over. "The Armored Titan killed my aunt and uncle when he destroyed Wall Maria, then he looked at me like as if looking down and mocking me." Reiner and Bertholt were shocked yet impressed at the resolve these two shared. The five boys went for a walk through the woods, it was late at night and they used a lamp to light their way. They came across a cliff side which revealed a lake lit by the bright moon light. They learned a lot about each other, how Reiner and Bertholdt came from a Village in Wall Maria which they barely escaped with their lives, how Reiner longed to return home, how Bertholdt admitted he lacked the courage to face the Titans. The five had developed a bond and were happy to have met.

"Eren, you'll do it tomorrow." Reiner said with a smile. "I know you got what it takes, once all the Titans are gone, I will return to my hometown." He then turned to Gabriel. "And you, the damned Armored Titan doesn't stand a chance against you, we will have Wall Maria back before you know it.

"Wow, Thanks Reiner." Eren said feeling full of confidence.

**Xxxx**

The next day, the entire 104th cadet corps watched as Eren prepared his final test.

"Eren Jaeger, are you ready?" Shadis asked. If Eren failed this then he would be sent to work on the fields, something the resident rage monster was not keen on.

"_To hell with working the damn fields!" _Eren thought determined as he saw Mikasa, Armin, Gabriel, Reiner, and Bertholdt all waving at him in support. He felt himself get lifted off the ground. He felt a momentary jolt but quickly stabilized himself. He held his balance and saw he was doing it.

"YEAH! IM DOING IT- OHHH SHIIIIT!" He yelled as he fell forward and slammed his face in the ground. It hurt but the pain quickly left as he realized what this meant.

"No wait! I can do it! I!" He tried to say as Shadis walked up to him.

"Thomas Wagner, switch belts with Eren." Shadis ordered. The blonde haired boy quickly obliged and switched belts. Eren suddenly lifted up the ground and found it to be much easier. He looked up to Shadis holding his belt which had a noticeable break in it.

"Looks like I need to head over to the armory and crack some necks. Your belt was busted, looks like you pass." Shadis said impressed that he still managed to accomplish the task despite having busted gear. Eren let out a cheer as he finally took the first step in killing the Titans.

_**Project Zeus Classified Files 1**_

_**-Not much is known about this project kept secret by the Capitol. All that is known is that it was a top secret secret research project to counter the Titans. At least as far as the public knows, no such weapon has ever been seen to be effective against Titans other than ODM gear.**_

**So how do you all like Gabriel? I wanted to try something new, I got to admit though writing the stutter lines is rough**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As the days went on, the male and female cadets were separated for the infamous talk. They were at that age were they were reaching puberty and it was critical that they were taught the changes that were happening. The girls class had groaned as the learned of the pain and annoyance of menstruation while the boys class had been full of chuckles due to the questions posed by Gabriel such as "Why Don't titans have penises?" The staff had been clear that any sexual action during training was forbidden and would be met with potential expulsion if found out. This was done to avoid any accidental pregnancies which would render the aspiring soldiers useless. The cadets were dismissed as they went to their barracks buildings.

"Ugh so that's where they came from huh?" Connie said. He had been told the stork story his whole life.

"I w-wonder w-why t-t-t-the t-t-titans d-don't h-have b-b-breasts." Gabriel inquired causing a loud laugh to break out. He did have a point though, despite the lack of any sort of genitalia on titans, they all seemed to have masculine shapes.

"Man you crack me up!" Connie said. He had grown quite fond of the resident giant. Gabriel seemed to get along with everyone, there were people who butted heads for sure, Eren and Jean, Mikasa and Annie to name a few. Gabriel just didn't have it in him to be mean.

"Hey you got a minute?" Jean asked Gabriel who turned to look down at him.

"U-um y-y-Yes." Gabriel said.

"Eh sorry I said that word." Jean said. "Eren just pisses me off at the mere sight of him." To those who knew Jean knew that was about as heartfelt as any apology he would give. Jean was known to be, in short, a dickhead.

"I-I-it's okay." Gabriel said. He didn't like how Jean was mean to Eren but he did say sorry at least.

"Hey Heimer!" Gabriel turned to see Reiner walking over to him. "I was just having a debate with a few people who wanted to know who was stronger, you or me." Reiner chuckled. "How bout a wrestling match huh?"

"W-wrestling match?" Gabriel asked confused.

"Yeah! You know, two guys muscling it out! It'll be fun! Plus it's a great workout." Reiner said. Gabriel couldn't help but say yes. Reiner was the one cadet everyone looked up to. He had the big brother personality where he would harmlessly mess around with but always be there in a cinch to help them out.

"O-okay!" Gabriel said as he removed his training jacket revealing his black turtleneck shirt he wore beneath. He looked up to see Reiner had removed his shirt exposing his upper body. His buff figure was enough to catch everyone's attention.

"Uh?" Gabriel asked.

"Come on Heimer!" Reiner said. "It's more manly this way!"

"Tryin to look cool in front of the girls huh?" Eren laughed.

"Hey it's not all that!" Reiner laughed. It was partially true, Reiner wanted to wrestle Gabriel in a test of strength but also wanted to show off his body in front of the females. He was still a teenager after all. A crowd had gathered around cheering the two on.

"If y-you s-say so!" Gabriel said as he took off his shirt. Reiners jaw dropped when he saw the ridiculously shredded body of Gabriel. Every muscle thick and lean, so lean that the striations could be seen directly under the skin.

"Holy shit!" Connie yelled. "You're freakin ripped!" The only ones not surprised were Eren Mikasa and Armin who had all known his musculature for some time now. A group of girls had also gathered, some cause they actually wanted to see who was stronger, others to get a good look at some eye candy. Reiner and Gabriel were the two best liked people in the 104th along with Christa. Sasha has strolled over and gasped upon seeing a shirtless Gabriel.

"Oh w-wow!" She said. She knew he was buff but a body like that was almost impossible to achieve without illegal substances.

"Enjoying the eye candy huh?" A tall freckle faced brunette asked.

"Oh Ymir!" Sasha said nervously. "I was j-just!"

"Oh can't blame you of course, those two are quite some specimens." Ymir said almost in a condescending manner. People had been questioning her sexuality for quite some time now. The amount of time she spent with Christa was suspicious but there was no solid proof.

"Alright lets go!" Reiner said as he charged at Gabriel. The two locked in each other's grasps. Reiner was dumbfounded at the raw strength he was up against.

"_Shit! He's got a frickin iron grip! This is like being grabbed by a Titan!"_ Reiners face turned red as he tried to push Gabriel off of him. He managed to push Gabriel back a little, Reiner was no weakling himself but Gabriel just had so much strength behind him.

"Get him Heimer!"

"Come on Reiner!" Reiner tried to sneak below his arm and grab him from the back to bring him to a submission but Gabriel was quick to respond and twisted the opposite way so Reiners back was facing him. Gabriel quickly wrapped his arms around Reiner who immediately tried to release from the powerful hand lock. He grunted as he slowly managed to peel off some fingers that were interlocked. Gabriel eventually let go and the two returned to facing each other.

"You're pretty strong." Reiner said out of breath. "I gotta start training with you."

"T-t-Thanks b-buddy!" Gabriel said happily.

"What say we call this one a tie." Reiner said. The two appeared to be on close terms of strength with Gabriel being a little more powerful. "Bring it in." Reiner said as the clasped Gabriel's hand and brought him for a quick hug in which he patted him on the back.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Everyone went silent as Commandant Shadis approached. Reiner gulped as he slowly turned around. "You two are gutsy, getting down in the dirty like this in public!" Shadis yelled. "Since you two are so comfortable with your sexuality, you'll be training for the next week in just your underwear! Maybe after some humiliation you'll learn not to act like a some nudist artist from the interior!" Gabriel and Reiner internally yelled as they spent the next week wearing just their boots and underwear which was brutal in the rain as mosquitos and other insects feasted upon their unprotected skin. Rashes, scrapes, and sun burn littered their skin by the end of the week to point that putting on a shirt hurt. Their week of humiliation quickly came to a close as close quarters combat training started. Gabriel had been paired with a short blonde girl, he didn't know much about her other than her name was Annie Leonhardt. She seemed kind of mean in his eyes. Shadis wanted everyone to get used to fighting people of different size and strength though many believed this to be a waste of time since they'd be fighting titans. Nevertheless, Gabriel came up to Annie who held the wooden dummy knife in her hand. Gabriel slowly put his hands up.

"Well? We ain't got all day here!" Annie said expressionless. Gabriel gulped as she moved forward. Within seconds she had him in the ground without even so much as a hit from him.

"What the hell was that?" Annie asked slowly getting back up with the knife in hand. She recalled him wrestling Reiner and knew he was way stronger than this.

"Ah-A-auntie s-said t-t-to n-never h-h-hit g-girls." Gabriel said. Annie looked at him and scoffed.

"Well aren't you the gentleman." Annie said. She was aware of Gabriel's mental condition and knew he was just being sincere. "Of course in this world, being a gentleman won't keep you alive." She said as she zoomed in again. Gabriel barely moved as she delivered a signature kick to him and brought him to his knees. He yelped as the pain in his shin throbbed heavily.

"Ow!" He said holding his shin. Annie showed no mercy as she grabbed his arm and used his weight and momentum to flip him into the ground. He felt his lungs compress as Annie placed her knee into his chest and held the knife to his throat.

"I think Auntie forgot to mention there's an exception to that rule if a girl is trying to kill you." Annie said slowly getting up and moving her hair from her face. "I saw you fighting Reiner, you managed to push that gorilla to his knees. Not to mention you are tall enough to be a Titan yourself. Come on, actually try this time.

"I-um, o-o-Okay." Gabriel said as they prepared to go again. This time when Annie moved forward with the knife Gabriel brought his hands up. When Annie swung he used his forearm to block the knife. He then swung his body inwards and used his momentum to flip Annie into her back. Annie hit the ground hard as her head smacked really hard. She saw a flash of white as her head slapped the earth.

"OH NO!" Gabriel cried. "HELP!"

"Stop yelling." Annie said getting up while clutching her head. She had to admit she did not see that coming. No one had ever managed to throw her like that.

"A-are you okay?" Gabriel asked feeling guilty as he offered a hand to help her up. Annie pushed his hand away as she stood up while Shadis ran over with a medic.

"What's going on here?!" He demanded to know. He looked to see a guilt ridden Gabriel and a headache ridden Annie. "Don't tell me you called me over for nothing!"

"I-I-I h-hurt h-her!" Gabriel said sniffling. He felt awful.

"Is that so?" Shadis asked before turning to Annie. "Leonhardt, are you all right?"

"Yes sir, just a small bump." Annie said.

"Good." Shadis said before turning to Gabriel. "Next time you call for help it better be a damn emergency you got that Heimer!"

"Y-Yes sir!" Gabriel said.

"Get back to training, unless someone's neck has been twisted 180° I don't want another call got it?" Shadis said.

"Yes sir!" The two said as Shadis walked away.

"You didn't need to call for help you know." Annie said.

"B-But I-I-I thought I h-h-hurt y-you!" Gabriel responded.

"Why do you even care? It's not like we are all buddy buddy." Annie said stoically.

"W-well because y-you s-s-should be n-nice to everyone." Gabriel explained. "I-I-I m-May not k-know you w-w-well b-b-But I s-still w-want y-you to b-be o-o-Okay." Annie's eyes widened hearing this.

"You, you actually care that much?" Annie asked shocked.

"Y-Yes, U-uncle s-said t-the w-world w-w-w-would be b-better if everyone l-looked our for each o-other." Gabriel explained. Annie fought back a smile hearing this. In this world, very few people were as good natured as this. Unfortunately in a world this cruel, am attitude like that could get you killed easily.

"Why are you here? Why do you want to fight the Titans?" Annie asked out of curiosity.

"The Armored Titan." Gabriel said. Annie took note of how he wasn't stuttering anymore. "He killed my Aunt and Uncle, he killed so many people. I want to destroy him so everyone can be safe!" Annie felt a tinge of sadness, poor guy went through a lot.

"W-What about y-you?" Gabriel asked. Upon hearing this, Annie seemed to revert back to her cold self upon remembering her reason for being here.

"Just shut up and take the stupid knife." Annie snapped catching Gabriel off guard. That seemed rather harsh. A loud whistle blew and everyone switched partners, this was done to ensure everyone had a chance to train against all kinds of body types. Gabriel waited patiently as she saw Sasha walk over to him.

"Oh hi!" She said smiling.

"H-h-hello." Gabriel said. Sasha playfully ran over to him and strained to look up his tall figure to greet his eyes.

"You ready? Cause here I come!" She said as she charged for him. She had been with Connie and the two had been goofing off the entire turn except when Shadis was watching them, as such, she didn't think Gabriel was going to take it seriously either till she felt her wrist grabbed by the boy. Sasha yelped, the knew Gabriel was strong but actually feeling his strength it was on another level.

"Uh sorry!" He apologized as he let go and Sasha comically waved her hand in the air to relieve the pain.

"Yikes! You are strong!" Sasha said. She shuddered to think of that kind of strength put against someone in a fight. Sasha had muscle in her from years of hunting and tree chopping back at her village but nothing like this, Gabriel was on a whole other level.

"S-s-sorry, A-a-Annie s-said t-t-to f-fight h-harder." Gabriel stuttered.

"Annie huh?" Sasha gulped. Annie, the resident ice queen, had built up quite a reputation. While she was quiet and kept to herself most of the time, those unfortunate few who had enraged her were met with a painful fate (most notably a hormonal male cadet whom had been left with a busted tailbone after attempting to cop a feel). Sasha was grateful she hadn't had to go against Annie yet, so far her partners had been Connie and Mina, both of whom were some of the more laid back cadets. She was conflicted with Gabriel, she, along with almost everyone, knew he had a grudge against the Armored Titan and he was dedicated to ending the Titans life. At the same time however he was very sweet and gentle with everything. He struggled a lot in class learning math and other science problems, he also had trouble writing.

"_Well I guess I'll just have to get to know him better." _Sasha thought. "How did you get so strong?"

"U-Um, i-I d-d-Dont really k-know." Gabriel said rubbing his neck. "I-I've a-always b-been s-s-strong." Sasha frowned, no one got that big and powerful by just being born that way.

"D-did I d-do something w-wrong?" Gabriel asked noting her frown.

"Oh no!" Sasha exclaimed. "I'm just trying to figure out how you got so strong."

"Braus! Heimer!" The two turned to see Shadis walking their way. "What are you two doing?" The two immediately snapped to attention as he walked over. "This is hand to hand combat time, not talking time!"

"Yes sir!" The two said. They quickly got back into their stances and noticed Shadis still standing there.

"S-sir?" Gabriel asked looking out of his peripheral vision.

"Well dont wait on me!" Shadis ordered. "Get to it!" He wanted to keep a close eye on these two. Both of them were on his shit list after all. Every military drill sergeant had that one cadet that they held a particular disdain for. For Shadis, it was these two whom he had selected as his quote on quote 'bitches'. He had already seen Sasha messing around with Connie earlier so he was making a point to keep a close eye on her.

"Well here I come." Sasha said getting ready with the knife. This time she jumped off and used her years of hunting experience to stay light on her feet and quick. Gabriel was a large target so it shouldnt be difficult to hit him. As she swung the knife into his midsection, he dodged by jumping back so fast it was as if someone had yanked him away from behind. Sasha gasped at the speed as she prepared to lunge again, this time she reversed the knifes position to go from a slash to a stab. She swung the knife at his chest hoping to land a hit on his heart. Gabriel caught her wrist and he promptly twisted her arm behind her back and pushed her to the ground. She fought to break free but he had her completely subdued.

"Not bad Heimer." Shadis said. He was curious on where Gabriel had learned that. As far as Shadis knew, Gabriel was a lonely boy who grew up in Shiganshina which while not an ideal place to live, was nothing like the underground where kids often had to fight for their lives everyday. Regardless of where Gabriel learned to fight, Shadis admitted the boy was a dangerous opponent. He also showed promise in ODM gear given his ability on the aptitude test. The only downside, which was quite a big one, was Gabriel's intelligence. He had by far the worst grades out of the entire 104th. What ever words he could write were done with a penmanship ao unlegible that even the best linguist in the walls couldn't decipher it. He also seemed to have a blatant ignorance of military courtesies as he would often wave to officers and say hi instead of saluting and giving proper greeting. Still though, his skill so far in terms of fighting was impeccable. Then again, that was against people, he would soon see his capability in full ODM gear soon.

"Braus get your ass up." Shadis ordered. Sasha felt Gabriel's weight get off her back as she slowly stood up. She felt embarrassed that not only had Gabriel rendered her helpless, it had been right in front of the Commandant as well.

"Braus, you will spend every hand to hand combat exercise from now till graduation with Heimer until you can defeat him." Shadis said. He knew that Sasha's biggest weakness was her close quarters combat. The girl was used to hunting down animals, not trained humans who could counter. He then turned to Gabriel. "And you, don't even think about letting her do it, if you do I'll be able to tell."

"Yes sir!" The two said. Sasha sighed looking at Gabriel, how was her small frame ever going to beat this titan of a man.

_**Project Zeus: Classified File II**_

_**This secret project was initiated eight years before the Fall of Wall Maria. During this same year, over one hundred children went missing from across the Walls. While coincidental, there is no provable link between the two**_

_**R&R**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Over the next several weeks, full on ODM gear training had commenced. The cadets were excited, ODM gear was the closest thing there was to flying. Flying was a liberating feeling, liberation was something very few people experienced these days in the cramped walls. It was no easy task, getting used to the process of firing and retracting the anchors while also knowing when to use gas to boost was difficult. There were many who had been injured or even killed from slamming into a tree too hard or from falling from a very high height. Once basic controls had been mastered, they moved onto life size titan dummies. Shadis stood atop a tree and graded each individual making note of strengths and weaknesses.

"_Jean, an insufferable smart ass that aspires to be a lazy MP pig. His skill in ODM gear and leadership holds a place in the top ten."_

"_Annie, quiet and unfriendly, excellent at combat but her unwillingness to play nice with others hinders her abilities."_

"_Bertholdt, kind of a pussy, kid would be incredible if he didn't depend on Braun to make choices for him."_

"_Connie, thinks he's a genius, I've seen abnormals express more intelligence. I won't deny he is quick with ODM gear, probably due to his short stature. _

"_Sasha, this class's target head. Obsessed with food to the point she'd be a bigger cannibalistic threat than the titans. Her years of hunting have honed her senses allowing her to pick up on almost any creature nearby._

"_Eren, this kid is a complete fuck up in the academics department, his ODM skill leaves much to be desired. But, his drive and sheer will is at a level thats horrifying,_

"_Armin, You can't have brains and brawn, his combat skills are mediocre at best, his intelligence and strategizing however make him a deadly asset behind the battlefield. _

"_Reiner, a hulking brute, he is strong and a compass for morale and leadership. His skill with ODM gear is amazing as is his physical prowess."_

"_Mikasa, a deadly and brutal force, her academic and physical abilities easily place her at the number one spot, unfortunately she isnt exactly leader material and has some sick obsession with Jaeger, no one else in the class comes close to her abilities in combat, except one._

"_Gabriel, a complete enigma. The kid is stupid, Im putting it bluntly, academics are so bad to the point that hes intellecutally closer to a chicken than he is to his peers. However, his raw power is unparalleled, he drops titan dummies like its a game to him, his skill is on par with Captain Levi himself. Unfortunately despite his battle prowess, his severe mental handicap keeps his from reaching his true potential."_

"HOLY SHIT!" Jean yelled as Gabriel flew through the air and took down three dummies back to back. The entire class was dumbfounded, the only one who could keep up with Gabriel was Mikasa who too had captured the attention of their classmates. Looks of admiration and jealousy flooded the area at the two superhuman cadets.

"I-I never imagined he was t-that good!" Connie said baffled. When he first met Gabriel, he honestly didn't think he would last long due to his condition but boy had he been proven wrong. He expected Mikasa to be excellent at this since she exceeded in everything else but no one was expecting this from Gabriel.

"Dammit!" Jean said smacking the ground with his swords in frustration as his cut went to shallow. He looked up and saw Gabriel slash so good he almost cut the whole wooden head of the dummy off. "_How? How does he make it look so damn easy?" _Gabriel felt wind rush past him as he turned to see another dummy of a fifteen meter titan up ahead. He fired his anchors into a nearby tree and shot upwards with his gas before his anchors made contact, as a result, his anchors didn't go into the three and Gabriel felt himself go into free fall. He was a good seventy feet in the air, a fall from this height would surely cripple, if not kill him. Before he could figure out what to do he felt himself get lifted up again and saw that both Reiner and Bertholdt had caught him and stopped his fall. They continued to ascend till they landed on a large tree branch where the let Gabriel off.

"T-thanks y-y-you g-guys!" Gabriel said gratefully.

"Gotta be careful there man." Reiner said. "We don't want you getting busted up before we get a chance to go out there."

"Y-yeah!" Gabriel said as the three resumed their training. After several hours the 104th were finished for the day. Gabriel was making his way back from the training area but was immediately surrounded and swarmed by his fellow cadets.

"How did you do that?"

"You're amazing!'

"Can you teach me?" Gabriel gulped at being so surrounded. He wasn't used to this kind of praise and attention. Eren felt a hint of jealousy, both Mikasa and Gabriel were so good with the ODM gear while he himself fell into the mediocre category. He tried to keep up but these two were inhuman.

"Wow man." Reiner said walking up. "You were moving so fast I could barely see you." Gabriel felt his face running red from all the compliments. Everyone had liked Gabriel before due to his kind and gentle nature but was now even more popular due to his skill with ODM gear. The cadets made their way back to their respective barracks as they ate dinner and prepared for bed. The girls all gathered around in their building which comprised of Mikasa, Sasha, Ymir, Christa, Mina, and Annie in building six.

"Mikasa you were amazing today!" Christa complimented.

"Thanks." Mikasa said. If the praise wasn't coming from Armin, Eren, or Gabriel she didn't care much for compliments.

"Whats got you in sour mood?" Ymir asked. "Mad Heimer outdid you today?"

"Ymir!" Christa said appalled by the girls comment.

"Ah thats right, unless its your precious Eren you dont pay mind to much." Ymir taunted with a laugh earning a scowl from Mikasa.

"For real though, I never imagined he'd be that good with the ODM gear." Mina said trying to defuse the situation.

"I know!" Sasha said. "I didn't think a guy that size could ever move so fast!"

"Oh and look at you!" Ymir laughed. "All swooned by that big strong man who carried you back."

"S-stop it!" Sasha said embarrassed. "That's not true!" The potato girl tried to forget that embarrassing first day of training. First she had made a fool of herself in front of the whole cadet corps by eating the potato, then she had to have Gabriel carry her back to her barracks.

"Jeez what is your goal? To get everyone to hate you?" Annie finally spoke up.

"Oh don't think we've forgotten about your little slip up with him." Ymir said bringing her roast to Annie. "We all saw you smiling when you two were sparring with two weeks ago." Annie growled at hearing this. Mikasa felt a small smile across her face, she was happy to see Gabriel had been getting along well with the others.

"Shut it." Annie threatened. This would have deterred most people given her skill in close quarters combat. Ymir however, wasn't like most people….

"I bet you were smiling at the thought of him being on top of you during that exercise weren't you?" Ymir said again. "Of course I wonder who he'd pick between you and potato girl over there." This time Sasha flushed red and covered her face as Annie clenched her fists in preparation to wipe Ymir's smirk right off her face. Annie was confused, she never let people get to her like this, why was it Ymir's comments were striking her nerves?

"Come on now, please don't fight!" Christa pleaded. She didn't want this to get ugly as Annie raised her leg in preparation to strike. Sasha saw this as a sign to leave before things got ugly. She quickly walked out the cabin as she heard breaking items and yelling. Meanwhile at the boys cabin, things weren't much better. This cabin consisted of Jean, Eren, Gabriel, Armin, Bertholdt, Reiner, and Connie.

"Yeah kick his ass Eren!"

"Don't lose to him Jean!" Eren and Jean had gotten into a scuffle as the two grabbed each other and threw punches. Unlike the girls cabin who tried to diffuse the fight, this one was being cheered on. Gabriel wanted to intervene but Reiner held him back saying 'its good to get it out of their system.' Gabriel sighed as he walked outside as Jean was thrown against the wall. Gabriel felt the cool breeze sway his hair in the wind. He enjoyed the peaceful walk as he saw other cadets out for a walk. He went to the cliff Reiner had showed him the first week of training. He sat down and let his legs dangle over the edge. He smiled as he closed his eyes allowing the sounds of scent of nature to wash over his body. His trance was broken when he heard a splash below him. He slowly looked over the edge and saw a figure in the water, he couldn't tell who it was in the evening sky so he leaned over more and lost his balance. He frantically tried to grip the cliff but it was too late as he landed in the water. The cool water flushed over him and felt actually quite refreshing. He struggled to float due to the density of the his muscular body but he was able to find ground to stand up on and slowly walked up to shore. He frowned as he was soaking what. He heard whimpering as he turned to see a familiar girl standing waist deep in the water no more than a few feet away from him.

"S-Sasha?" He asked. The girl in question was starting at him in horror and disbelief as her face flushed red. She covered her bare chest with her arms and squatted in the water to hide her naked body.

"_No no no!" _She thought. She felt like she was gonna die. If anyone heard about this she would never hear the end of it.

"W-What a-are y-y-you d-doing?" He asked seemingly oblivious to the fact she was naked.

"I-I was taking a bath…" She said sinking her head into the water more. This was absolutely mortifying. "Why are you here?!" She said loudly.

"Oh I-I f-fell." Gabriel said pointing to the cliff he plummeted from. "I-i heard a s-s-ssplash and l-looked t-t-to s-see w-w-What it w-was." He saw she was shivering and he got concerned. "A-re y-you o-o-Okay?" He asked as he got closer to see what was wrong.

"NO GO AWAY!" She yelled which caught Gabriel off guard.

"B-But-" Gabriel tried to say.

"IM NAKED! GET OUT OF HERE!" She yelled again.

"Oh?" Gabriel thought as he realized the situation. "UH OH! I-IM S-SORRY!" He cried as he quickly ran out of the water and away from the small lake. After he left Sasha took no time to quickly swim to shore and dry herself off and put clothes on. She dreaded the rumors that were going to spread now.

**Xxx**

Gabriel walked through the mess deck the next day as plenty of snickers and chuckles could be heard. He looked around to find his friends and noticed Sasha was not present. He tilted his head in confusion, even he knew that Sasha would never ever miss a meal.

"Hey bro!" Reiner said wrapping his arm around his shoulder. "Heard you and Potato Girl went to pound town." (**Shout out to tomandre and the Slap on Titan series) **

"H-huh? I-I didn't g-go t-t-town?" Gabriel asked confused. Where was Pound Town? Wall Sina maybe?

"THERE HE IS!" Gabriel turned to see Ymir with a rare smile on her face. She walked up laughing hysterically and slapped him on the back. "Man Heimer! You really did it! OH THIS IS TOO GREAT!"

"W-What's going on?" Gabriel asked. He turned to Jean who had a smirk on his face and then to Annie who refused to look at him. He saw Bertholdt and ran up to him.

"B-Bertie!" He said. He had trouble pronouncing Bertholdt's name so he simply called him Bertie. "W-Why is everyone l-l-laughing at m-me?"

"Uhhhh!" Bertholdt meekly said.

"Gabriel." Mikasa said placing her hand on his arm. "Come with Armin and I." Gabriel nodded as he followed his adopted family to the corner. Once they arrived, Mikasa looked firmly at Gabriel.

"Did you do anything to Sasha last night?" Mikasa asked bluntly.

"Huh?" Gabriel asked. Mikasa turned to Armin for help.

"Gabriel do you remember when they told us where babies come from?" Armin asked sheepishly. Gabriel remembered back to the sex talk they had some time ago.

"Yeah, that was gross!" He said making a face.

"Well, someone said they saw you and Sasha in the water last night and well…" Mikasa said not sure how to phrase it.

"Gabriel did you have sex with Sasha?" Armin finally blurted.

"WHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAATT?" Gabriel yelled appalled. Mikasa remembered back to this morning.

**One hour earlier.**

Mikasa had awoken to a commotion. She sighed as she swung her legs out of bed and stretched from a nights sleep of immobility.

"I didn't!" She heard Sasha yell. She looked to see Sasha, who looked like she was about to burst into tears, facing a tauntful Ymir.

"Oh come on! Why deny it?" Ymir laughed. "So how big was he? Did it hurt?"

"I DIDNT DO IT!" Sasha cried with tears running down her eyes.

"Ymir stop it!" Christa yelled. Christa seemed to be the only one Ymir listened to. Mina was doing her best to help Christa while Annie stayed silent in the corner.

"Just saying, retards got big di-" Before Ymir could finish her sentence she felt a very strong arm grab her by the collar. She looked up to see an angry Mikasa looking down on her.

"Don't you ever call him that word again." She threatened. She knew how upset Gabriel would get when people would call him stupid, he was even more distressed when people called him retarded. Ymir smirked as she prepared to open her mouth when the door slammed so hard it nearly broke off its hinges. All occupants looked to see an angry Shadis staring them down.

"What the hell are you doing?" He yelled. Mikasa promptly let go of Ymir as the girls quickly stood at attention. "Forget it, probably had something to do with Jaeger." He said referring to Mikasa's anger. He then turned to Sasha whose eyes were still wet with tears as she stood at attention sniffling. "You Braus, come with me!" Shadis ordered.

"Yes sir!" She said as she followed after him outside.

**XXX- Present.**

"I-I w-w-woundn't d-d-d-do t-that!" Gabriel cried. "T-t-thats s-stuffs g-g-g-gross!" Armin felt relieved. He knew Gabriel couldn't have actually done it.

Convincing Shadis on the other hand….

"HEIMER!" Everyone dropped dead silent as the feared instructor entered the mess hall.

"Uh oh." Gabriel said. He slowly turned to face Shadis who was fuming.

"Y-y-yes s-s-sir?" Gabriel asked sheepishly as the entire mess hall sat completely still and silent.

"You're coming with me!" He growled. Gabriel audibly gulped as he stepped forward. He didn't like getting yelled at, it reminded him of his father who would abuse him after drinking the bad juice all day. After the two left, the mess hall broke out into conversation.

"Oh man he is sooooo dead!" Connie cried.

"Nothing even happened! Its all a misunderstanding!" Armin cried out.

"Oh yeah prove it!" Thomas said.

"Well I wasn't there so I cant but-" Armin said. "Do you really think Gabriel of all people would do something like that?" This got people pondering.

"Well he was pretty confused during the talk a while back." The resident freckle face Marco Bott threw in.

"Not to be mean, but would he even know where to put it?" Jean asked. Annie heard all of his and let out a noticeable smirk though she tried hard to hide it.

"Man, maybe it didn't actually happen." Reiner said coming to realization. "Looks like we owe those two quite an apology." He felt pretty guilty since he pretty much told everyone once he was informed by Armin.

"Well I just hope they can convince Shadis." Connie said hoping the two were getting ripped apart.

Xxx

Gabriel entered Shadis' office where he saw Sasha sitting on a chair to the left along with another man standing in the corner, wait was it?

IT WAS!

"S-s-s-superman!" Gabriel yelled in joy upon seeing Captain Levi himself in the room. Levi opened his eyes in shock. Did this fucking kid really just call him superman? Gabriel didn't have time to say another word as Shadis backhanded across the head.

"THAT'S A SENIOR OFFICER YOU MAGGOT! YOU WILL SHOW THE PROPER RESPECT!" Shadis yelled as Gabriel rubbed the back of his head. "SIT DOWN!"

"Yes sir!" Gabriel sat down with a big smile on his face. Shadis sat down at the other side of the desk and placed his arms on the surface. "You two are still on my shitlist from your first day, why is it every time there's an issue its involves you on you? He asked rhetorically. "You two know why I called you two in here right?"

"Yes." Sasha said looking down.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Shadis yelled causing Sasha's head to pop up.

"Yes sir!" She cried out.

"How about you Heimer? Got any ideas why you're in here?" Shadis asked.

"Um." He said. "B-because you t-t-think w-w-we t-t-touched p-privates?" Sasha internally screamed. Levi felt the formings of a laugh coming but forced himself to retain his bearing. An audible puff of air was heard coming through his nostrils. The way Heimer had said what he said so shamelessly and deadpanned would have made anyone chuckle.

"Yes, exactly that." Shadis stated. "Captain Levi here is the one who saw the two of you in the lake last night. Perhaps you'd like to refute his claim?"

"Well Sir, I was taking a bath last night in the lake and-" Sasha tried to say.

"You know we have facilities for that right?" Shadis said.

"Its just, I don't like to be, with other people when I'm bathing." Sasha confessed. Growing up in her village she would often find an isolated pond or creek to soak in.

"If you cant handle that, then good luck fighting titans!" Shadis said before turning to Heimer. "Now as for you, what the hell were you doing?"

"I-i-I wanted t-t-t-to r-relax a-and I-I-I w-was s-s-sitting on t-the c-cliff and I-I-I-I h-heard a n-noise and I-I-I s-slipped a-and f-f-fell." Gabriel explained. Shadis frowned, this wasn't his first time dealing with hormonal cadets. With anyone else this story would have been a blatant lie, but knowing Gabriel and his honesty, he didn't see a reason to not believe him.

"Well it seems here you two just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Shadis said. "I'm making my decision, you two will stay in the cadet corps but understand this, any sort of sexual actions of any kind between cadets will get you sent home, am I understood?"

"Yes sir!" Sasha and Gabriel said as they let out a breath of relief.

"Braus you are dismissed." Shadis said. "Oh and stop bathing in the lake, you're not a hog."

"Yes sir!" Sasha said as she exited. Gabriel saw her leave and began to follow her.

"Did I tell you to leave Hiemer?" Shadis asked making Gabriel stop in his tracks.

"N-no s-sir." Gabriel said. He went back to his seat as Levi walked up to him.

"The Commandant tells me some good things about you." Levi said. Gabriel smiled at the praise he was getting from his hero. "Stop smiling like an idiot and listen to me." Levi said sternly. Being called an idiot quickly dropped the smile from Gabriel's face and was replaced with a sad frown. Levi picked up on this and was quick to say something. "What's with the sulking huh? Is that the face you'll make as a titan is about to shove you down it's disgusting, putrid mouth?

"N-no sir." Gabriel said with very hurt feelings. Levi narrowed his eyes more, this sulking snowflake was the one Shadis had praised?

"You know personally I haven't seen you in action, for all I know you could be complete shit." Levi said. Gabriel sniffled slightly, he never thought Captain Levi would be this mean! "What branch you looking at?"

"S-s-Scouts! J-just l-l-like you s-sir!" Gabriel said proudly.

"Well if you keep up with what the Commandant has told me, you may actually be worthwhile." Levi said. "I'll be observing your training tomorrow, don't screw up."

"Y-Yes s-sir!" Gabriel said.

"Good, if I am no longer needed, I'll be making my way out of here." Levi said as he exited the door.

"Heimer, you're dismissed." Shadis said. He personally felt Levi was too harsh. Even as a drill instructor he knew not to insult Gabriel's handicap. Gabriel nodded and quickly hopped out of the office and made his way back to the mess hall where everyone was finishing up breakfast. He saw his group of buddies getting ready to leave.

"Hey Gabriel!" Reiner yelled. Gabriel saw him and walked over to him. "Hey uh, sorry about all that rumor spreading." The blonde apologized sincerely.

"I-it's o-Okay!" Gabriel said with a goofy smile. While Captain Levi had been mean, he was excited to have his hero watch him train.

"Yeah sorry." Connie said. "I should have known better."

"Gabriel." Mikasa said walking over to him. He turned and saw her gently placed a piece of bread in his hands. "You must be hungry, I know it isn't much but I hope you can at least get some energy from it."

"W-Wow t-thanks Mik!" Gabriel said wrapping her in a tight hug using the nickname he gave her when he had trouble pronouncing her name. Mikasa smiled as she returned the hug.

"So what did he say?" Armin asked. Gabriel looked at him and explained what happened.

"You're shitting me!" Reiner said shocked. "_The _Captain Levi is coming to watch you?"

"Mm hmm!" Gabriel nodded. The group was in shock, to be so good to attract Captain Levi's attention!

"Gotta say I'm pretty jealous." Jean said. "Wish Commander Dok would come check me out!" He said referring to the Commander of the Military Police.

"I wish I could see the look in Eren's face right now!" Connie laughed. "He'd get so jealous!" Eren has opted to skip breakfast in order to go for a run, much to Mikasa's objection. It was well known that Gabriel's admiration of Levi was only rivaled by Eren. They were caught off guard when a bell rung signaling morning formation and inspection. The cadets quickly sorted out of the hall. Gabriel took a moment to look at his bread and was about to bite in when he heard a familiar voice.

"NOOOOOO!" He turned to see Sasha in tears. She had missed a meal, the equivalent to getting diagnosed with a terminal illness for her. Gabriel looked at her and then back at his bread, he was really hungry but then he thought how sad Sasha looked earlier and knew she really loved food. He then made his decision and walked up to her.

"No no no! There had to be some crumbs! Anything-" she stopped as she saw Gabriel looking down at her. She flushed red thinking back to the night before and turned away. "Oh hey Gabriel."

"H-h-here." He said handing her the bread. Sasha peeked over and her eyes opened like a deer caught by a predator. She looked up to him with a most grateful look on her eyes.

"F-for me?!" She asked not believing it.

"Y-you w-were s-s-sad earlier." Gabriel said. "I-I wanted t-t-t-to m-make y-you cheer up." Sasha gasped. Was this really happening?

"Oh Gabriel I don't know what to say!" She said. All awkward tension between her and Gabriel had been severed by this kind act. Sasha quickly grabbed the bread and tore into it like a carnivores beast till there was nothing but crumbs around her mouth. After devouring it like a Titan would a human she looked back up to him smiling. "Thank you so much! I'm sorry I acted so weird around you!"

"It's okay!" Gabriel said smiling. He liked making people happy. "I wouldn't want to see your boobies anyway!" Upon hearing this, Sasha nearly regurgitated her food as the two walked out for formation.

**Project Zeus, File 3**

"_**In desperation against the Titans, children as young as five were brutally trained in an effort to combat the Titans by making perfect soldiers. This severely damaged the young and innocent minds which led to many falling into a violent and sadistic state of mind."**_

**R&R**

**I attached pictures of Gabriel from the AOT 2 game so you know what he looks like in the storybphoto**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The next day everyone put on their gear as they headed to the training area. Everyone wanted to do their best today. Captain Levi would be there after all, while very few cadets were even considering the Survey Corps, a commendation by Humanity's Strongest would surely boost their ranks into the top ten giving them a shot at the MPs. The 104th assembled as Shadis began speaking.

"You maggots will give more than your best today, Captain Levi and Commander Erwin will be here today to observe!" Shadis said. The cadets gasped, Commander Erwin would be here too?! Levi and Erwin were really only there to observe Mikasa and Gabriel but figured they might as well watch the others as well. "You have ten minutes to stretch and check your gear! Then it's showtime!"

"YES SIR!" The cadets said as they dispersed and talked. Many were nervous and others couldn't wait to tote their skills.

"Oh I'm so nervous!" Mina whimpered. She knew she was not as talented as some of the others.

"This will be a piece of cake!" Connie said confidently. The self proclaimed genius always took the opportunity to boast this ODM skill.

"How bout you Gabriel?" Armin asked.

"U-u-um, C-Captain L-levi i-i-i-s g-gonna w-watch s-s-so I-I-I'm a l-l-little n-nervous." Gabriel said rubbing the back of his head.

"You'll do great! You and Mikasa are the best ones by far!" Armin complimented. It certainly made him wonder though, if the most talented guy in the class was nervous then it must be absolutely brutal for everyone else. Up above on an overlooking cliff, Levi and Erwin stood waiting to see what the cadets had to offer.

"I'm surprised you agreed to this Levi." Erwin said. "You have never come to scout cadets while they are in training before."

"Hmph, Shadis wouldn't shut his shitty mouth about this Heimer kid, apparently Ackerman is on his level as well." Levi said. "Personally, being good with ODM gear doesn't mean jack against dummies."

"Which one is he?" Erwin asked referring to Gabriel. He narrowed his eyes to try and locate him but was unsuccessful.

"Can you seriously not spot him?" Levi asked. He walked over and adjusted Erwin's head several degrees. "He stands a good foot over most of the people there."

"He is quite a tall one indeed." Erwin said. While he was tall himself, he never even came close to Gabriel's height, especially not at that age. "Wait, what is he doing?" Levi turned to look again and saw Gabriel trying to catch a rabbit that had dashed by.

"Ugh this kid!" Levi said.

"Something wrong?" Erwin asked.

"The kid is stupid, and I mean that in he is legit not all there." Levi said. Erwin's eyes rose upon hearing this.

"Care to elaborate?" Erwin asked.

"For starters, he has a horrible stutter, he also seems oblivious to the world around him. Brat called me Superman and didn't even give a salute or proper greeting-" Levi was distracted as he heard Erwin chuckling. "What the hell are you laughing at?"

"Seems you got yourself a fan." Erwin said. He found that the thought of someone pestering the grumpy Levi and called him nicknames to be amusing.

"Also his academics are downright awful, Shadis showed me some of his writing and there is no one in the Walls who could possibly decipher it." Levi continued. "You know as well as I do someone like that won't last in the Scouts."

"So then why are you here if you've no interest?" Erwin asked.

"Because." Levi said. "Because Shadis told me he completed the Solo Titan Course in four minutes. Erwin's jaw nearly dropped when he heard that.

"Four minutes?" Erwin said dumbfounded. "Levi that's only-"

forty seconds short of my best." Levi finished. The Titan Course being discussed pitched a soldier up in a forest with fifty titan dummies of varying sizes. Levi held the record at 3:20, the Special Operations Squad and other Scout Vets average 4-5 minutes. The average scout tended to score around 6-7 minutes. Garrison and MPs usually took as long as fifteen minutes to clear the course.

"I just don't get it." Levi said. "How can be so good at ODM gear but be so challenged?"

"He's what we call a savant." Erwin stated.

"What was that?" Levi asked.

"For reasons not understood, sometimes people who struggle mentally will find there is one subject in which they not only do well but perfect down to an industrial art." Erwin explained.

"Well looks like we will see for ourselves, they are starting." Levi said as a green smoke signal was shot into the air, signaling the beginning of the training. Immediately Gabriel and Mikasa took off so fast Levi couldn't even follow. The rest of the cadets struggled to keep up as Mikasa and Gabriel cut down several targets in seconds. Others such as Daz, Armin, Mina, and Thomas, were among the last to take off and we're making consistent errors such as not cutting deep enough or missing the nape target entirely. Eren saw Gabriel and Mikasa up ahead and snarled, his sense of competition was frothing and refused to be beaten by them, not when Captain Levi was watching. Behind the two front runners were Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie who moved fluidly taking out their targets. Sasha, Connie, and Jean came up next, while showing good skil with ODM gear, were making slight mistakes. After less than five minutes, Gabriel and Mikasa arrived at the finish line, neither showing any signs of exhaustion other than a slight sweat. Erwin and Levi were impressed to say the least.

"Not bad." Levi said.

"I am impressed." Erwin said smiling. "4:00 flat for you Heimer, and 3:45 for Ackerman."

"W-Wow y-you h-have b-b-bushy eyebrows!" Gabriel said in awe at Erwin's thick eyebrows. Mikasa gasped as Levi narrowed his eyes.

"Hey brat, do you have any idea who you are speaking too?" Levi sternly and angrily asked.

"Yeah, h-him." Gabriel said pointing to Erwin who chuckled. Levi scales as he prepared a verbal onslaught for the cadet before Erwin stopped him.

"It's quite alright Levi, after that show I can forgive any lapse in decorum from this cadet." Erwin said as he walked over to the two of them. "Have you two figured out which regiment to join?"

"S-s-Scouts!" Gabriel said happily.

"I see, with your skill you'd be a great asset to our cause." Erwin said. "And you?"

"Wherever Cadet Jaeger goes, I will." Mikasa said firmly.

"T-that's o-our b-b-buddy!" Gabriel said referring to Eren. "S-She l-l-loves h-him!" Mikasa gasped as her face flushed red and Erwin broke out in a full out laugh.

"So Heimer." Erwin asked. "Why is it you want to join the Scouts?" Gabriel's wide eyes and happy smile quickly faded as a scowl overtook his face. He clenched his fists as he narrowed his eyes. It was quite an intimidating sight indeed.

"The Armored Titan." Gabriel said. Erwin and Levi raised their eyebrows seeing how Gabriel was able to talk normally now. "He killed my Aunt and Uncle, I'm going to tear him to pieces for that." Erwin had to admit it was quite an unnerving sight to see someone to such a 180. Seeing a happy and innocent boy turn to this angry and relentless man shot shivers up his spine.

"Gabriel." Mikass said placing her hand on his arm. She had seen him do this before and hated when he got angry like that. Suddenly the boy snapped out of it and looked back at her with his signature goofy smile. Levi and Erwin picked up on this and were thoroughly confused. The whooshing Of ODM gear filled the area as other cadets made their way to the finish line.

"T-those t-t-two!" Reiner said trying to catch his breath. "Aren't human!" It never failed to amaze him how good Gabriel and Mikasa were. Once all the cadets had finished after twenty minutes, Levi and Erwin made their departure. They really only come to see the top two anyhow. No one else had peaked their interest.

"So Levi What did you think?" Erwin asked.

"Ackerman is on another level. Her speed and technique are much better than any I've ever seen." Levi said. In truth he had been looking for a successor. The title of Humanity's Strongest brought hope to people and one day he would die, whether or not it was by Titan or old age, one day he would die along with his power.

"What about Heimer?" Erwin asked.

"That kid, unnerves me." Levi said. "Surely that isn't normal how he acts?"

"There are certain things that point to mental issues. I could understand the handicap but the way he looked when the Armored Titan was mentioned. The way he stopped stuttering and appeared more focused was unusual." Erwin said.

"The kid is too ruled by his emotions." Levi said. "It doesn't matter how good on ODM gear he is, if he lets his emotions get the best of him then he is useless in battle."

"We will see Levi, he is still young and has much to learn." Erwin said as the two left.

Xxx

The following weeks weren't much different, woke up, train, eat, study, sleep. Gabriel's grades were at the point where he could be expelled. He was starting to get nervous as he frantically ran to the resident genius for help.

"P-please!" Gabriel pleaded. "I-I-I d-don't w-want t-t-t-to l-leave you g-guys!" He was terrified at the thought of being separated from his new family.

"I'll help you." Armin said warmly. "I don't know if I'll be a good teacher but I'll do my best!"

T-thank you!" Gabriel cried grabbing Armin in a tight hug. Armin gasped for breath as the gorilla arms nearly snapped his spine. Gabriel put him down and the two got to work.

"Okay, lets start with the basics." Armine said. "What are the names of the walls from innermost to outermost?"

Ummm." Gabriel said as he thought. The names of the Walls were as common knowledge as the sky is blue but the universe had not chosen common sense for Gabriel. "U-um, I-I k-know one is a f-flower."

"Close!" Armin said. "What kind of flower?"

"A uh-uh-uhhhhhhhhh." Gabriel comically slapped his face as if trying to jump start his brain.

"It's a red flower!" Armin encouraged.

"A-a-a! A VIOLET!" Gabriel said loudly and proudly. Armin felt his brain split into two.

"Close, but the answer is Rose, Wall Rose." Armin said sheepishly.

"RAAAAAAAHHH!" Gabriel yelled kicking his legs into the air in rage. "I-I'm n-never g-gonna g-g-graduate!"

"Hey it's okay!" Armin said.

"W-why do I-I h-have t-t-to b-be s-s-s-so d-dumb?" Gabriel said sadly. Admin frowned, he knew the boy was very self conscious of his intelligence.

"You're not dumb." Armin said with a smile. "You just get, confused sometimes is all."

"I-I j-just f-feel l-like I-I can't d-do a-a-anything right!" Gabriel sobbed.

"_You have no idea Gabriel, if you could see what we all see." _Armin thought. If a tenth of the military had his ODM skill the titans would have been extinct ten years ago.

"Well how about this." Armin said. "Do you know what "Mrs" means?"

"Uh-huh." Gabriel said.

"Well it's like an acronym, M for Maria, R for Rose, S for Sina. Mrs." Armin said. "Acronyms help me remember stuff."

"M-mrs?" Gabriel said as he thought. "M-Maria, R-Rose, and S-Sina!"

"You did it!" Armin said.

"YAYY!" Gabriel screamed. He lunged forward and hugged his brother again tightly. Armin let out a happy laugh as the two continued to study for the next couple hours. Well for Armin it felt like a few days having to break down the most basic of concepts for Gabriel to understand.

"Well that's everything for tonight." Armin said.

"G-good, m-my b-brain w-wants to g-go boom." Gabriel said clutching his head. The door opened and the two turned to see Reiner and Bertholdt.

"Reiner! Bertie!" Gabriel yelled running up excitedly. "G-guess w-what! A-Armin h-helped m-me with g-grades!"

"Really?" Reiner said laughing. "What did you learn?"

"W-wall Violet is the second wall!" Armin soon proceeded to faint.

Xxx

Over the next few months, more training ensued. The training was coming to an end and it was time to pick the top ten cadets. Shadis sat in his office reviewing cadet files. Soon he singled out the top ten cadets for this class. He looked at each file and was satisfied with the picks. Only one thing bothered him, he believed Gabriel should be at the number two spot. His skills with ODM gear were inhuman, he could easily dispatch of any Titan he came across. His intelligence is what kept him very far from even the top fifty. With Armins tutoring, he had passed, albeit barely, the academics portion. It was a shame really, all that potential to be stalled over something the boy had no control of. Back at the cadet barracks, the cadets had the day off and were debating how they should spend it.

"Come on guys!" Reiner said. "When was the last time we actually saw civilization?"

"I'm too tired to go anywhere man." Connie yawned. "How do you have so much energy?"

"Same here." Eren said stretching. "Last nights training destroyed me."

"Aw not you too!" Reiner moaned. So far only Bertholdt had agreed to go. With Eren staying here than meant Mikasa was gonna stay too. Connie was too tired and Jean opted to spend the day by himself saying he needed time to himself. The girls weren't much better, Annie and Ymir both flat out refused and Christa, after endless apologizing, said she wanted to go be with the horses in the stables. Mina wanted to go home for the day and Sasha, well she followed the food.

"H-hi!" Gabriel said walking by.

"Ah there's my man!" Reiner said as he walked up to him. "How's a day out in the town sound to you?"

"W-What w-would we d-do?" Gabriel inquired.

"I don't know, we could walk around, check out some shops, maybe actually eat a decent meal-" He was interrupted by charging footsteps as a small brunette seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm in!" She yelled.

"Sasha where did you even?" Reiner began to say. "Nevermind, you wanna come with us?"

"You said there will be good food right?" She said drooling as if she was a Titan about to much down a fat poultry human. The cadets were given a monthly stipend to spend as they see fit. It wasn't much but it was something.

"Alright!" Reiner said happily. "How bout it Gabriel? Maybe we can pick up some chicks!"

"P-pick up?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"You know! Hold their hands, kiss them, maybe even marry them." Reiner said.

"B-but I d-don't w-wanna m-marry a c-chicken!" Gabriel whined. Everyone broke out into a laugh at his comment.

"Don't worry pal." Reiner said slapping his back. "You'll get yourself a gorgeous lady one day."

"A-as l-long a-as s-She is n-nice." Gabriel explained. "A-auntie s-said l-looks a-aren't e-everything." Sasha smiled at him upon hearing this.

"Well looks who's a romantic." Eren smiled. "You know what? Screw it, I'm in."

"Awesome! That's five total!" Reiner said. He saw Annie standing by herself under a tree. "Last call blonde!"

"Ugh." Annie said disgusted as she looked away.

"Jeez I was trying to be nice." Reiner said offended. Gabriel looked sadly at her and walked over to her.

"I'm not going." Annie said without even looking at him.

"B-but w-why?" Gabriel asked.

"Cause I don't want to. I don't like crowds or socializing." Annie said.

"B-but y-you a-always l-look s-so s-sad." Gabriel said. "Y-you a-are a-actually r-really n-nice."

"Thanks but my answer is still no." Annie said looking away. She was caught off guard when she felt big arms wrap around her. Her first instinct was to break away and fight but hesitated when she felt how soft the grip was.

"S-see?" Gabriel asked as he hugged her. "H-hugs m-make e-everyone f-feel better." Annie was dumbstruck. Was he actually doing this?

"I-" She tried to say.

"I'll b-be y-your f-friend." Gabriel said sweetly as he broke the hug.

"Hey you coming or what?" Reiner yelled out. Annie looked up and sighed.

"Fine I'll come." She said.

"Yay!" Gabriel said jumping in the air as the two met up to join Reiner and the group went on their way.

Xxx

Arriving into Trost District, the closest large city, the cadets went around taking in the sights. It felt odd to be around bustling crowds and the noises of the city after spending years in the isolated woodlands of training. Up above, a reformed and more competent Garrison lined the walls observing any sort of threat to the gate. The group had visited many shops as they walked around. Mikasa has been on top of Eren the whole time which was no surprise. Annie had shockingly stuck with Reiner and Bertholdt while Sasha walked with Gabriel:

"Oh it smells sooooo good!" Sasha said as her green dress waved in the wind. The cadets had opted to not go in their uniforms as it attracted too much attention. Gabriel saw Sasha drooling over a slab of ribs which was roasting behind the window. He looked at the price and saw the slab was fifty dollars, he checked his wallet and counted near ten thousand. Other cadets had spent their stipend on different things from food to clothing but Gabriel had been very frugal and had not spent a dime from the last two years. Sasha looked longingly at the meat as she walked off. Gabriel had an idea pop in his head as he walked into the store. As Sasha was walking, she made a wrong turn into a dark alleyway which was very menacing. The putrid smell of dead bodies and piles of garbage made for an abhorrent sight.

"Ugh!" She gagged covering her nose. She wanted to get out of this place immediately.

"Hey there." A masculine voice said. Sasha's training kicked in as she turned to see a large man, almost Gabriel's size approaching her.

"Hey!" She said with a hint of threat.

"Oh come on, I'm not gonna hurt ya." The man said. He was tall and beefy, his beard down to his chest, he was covered in nasty scars and wore a coat that bore the color of old blood stains.

"What do you want!" Sasha asked. She was nervous now. Even with her training she was nowhere near as skilled as Eren, Annie, Gabriel or Mikasa. Oh how she regretted not taking hand to hand combat more seriously.

"Yer a pretty little thing." The man said. "You should fetch a nice price!" He yelled as he lunged forward. Sasha yelped as she delivered a kick right to his scrotum. The man yelled out in pain as he fell down and held his genitalia in a fruitless effort to soothe the pain.

"You're dead!" The man screamed as he lunged at Sasha pinning her to the ground.

Xx

"That'll be 50 dear." An old lady said as Gabriel handed over his money. She then handed him a thick slab of ribs which was smothered in juices and seasoning.

"T-thanks!" Gabriel said. "S-Sasha will l-love this!"

"Oh is that for a special girl darling?" The kind old lady asked.

"Um-" Gabriel said rubbing the back of his head. The old lady giggled at his reaction.

"Oh I'm sure she'll love it. Meat is hard to come by these days." The lady said. "Make sure you eat it soon, it'll go bad otherwise!"

"T-thank you!" Gabriel smiled as he walked out to see Annie standing outside. Her hair usually tied up was let down and it covered part of her face.

"Hello." She said.

"Oh h-h-hi A-Annie!" Gabriel said smiling. "Whatcha d-doin?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Annie said hiding her face.

"O-Okay!" Gabriel said.

"Listen, Gabriel." Annie said. This was foreign to her. All these years she had grown cold to emotion. "I wanted to thank you for convincing me to come, I'm actually having a good time." A rare smile spread across her face. She then looked up to him. "You are a good person, I wish-" Annie stopped as a look of sadness consumed her. "I wish I had known there were people like you here." She took a deep inhale and appeared to let out a tear.

"W-What w-wrong?" Gabriel asked. Annie quickly regained her bearing.

"It's nothing, I'm glad you're my friend." Annie said warmly as a blood curdling yell was heard. The two cadets immediately turned to the source.

"That sounded like-" Annie said.

"SASHA!" Gabriel broke out into a sprint so fast that Annie couldn't even keep up. The two flew down the streets as the screaming got closer. Gabriel turned the corner to see a large man punching Sasha in the face. Elsewhere. Eren, Mikasa, Reiner, and Bertholdt heard yells in the distance.

"You guys hear that?" Bertholdt asked.

"Shit! Sounds like trouble!" Reiner grunted. "Come on! Let's go!" The group began running to the source of the sound as the events unfolded in front of Gabriel and Annie.

"You! Fucking! Bitch!" He yelled slamming his hand into Sasha's face. She had done a number on her attached. Numerous bruises and lacerations lined his face but unfortunately he was the stronger opponent. Gabriel looked and dropped the bag of meat.

"S-s-Stop!" He cried. The man ignored him.

"Rotten slut!l" The man yelled again.

"S-stop!" Gabriel yelled as he ran towards the man. Annie had arrived at the scene and was horrified at what she saw.

"I said….. **FUCKING STOOOOOOOP!" **Gabriel yelled. The alley went silent as a perfect and threatening voice echoed. Annie gasped, it was more likely to hear a Titan talk than hear Gabriel scream and swear. The man took his hand off Sasha's throat who proceeded to spit up blood and a tooth. Gabriel slammed into him like a wild animal and proceeded to slam his fists into whatever he could hit. The man hit the ground hard as he looked up and saw an extremely pissed off giant glaring down at him.

"**RAHHHHH!**" Gabriel screamed as he brought his fists down again. Blood spurted from the man's nose as it was shattered from the impact.

"Gabriel!" Annie cried. Gabriel's rampage did not stop. The man tried to fight back but Gabriel was too strong. Gabriel has been distracted by Annie's yell. The man took this chance and pulled out a knife and swung it up Gabriel's face. The boy jumped back holding his right cheek where a line of blood appeared and began to drop.

"You think you're so fucking tough huh!" The man yelled as he swung the knife again. "Come and get me!" Gabriel growled as he grabbed the man's hand and held it with all his strength. The man yelled at the sudden iron grip. He struggled with all his strength to break free but it was useless. The kids grip was unbelievable. Gabriel lowered the man's hand do the ground as he dropped the knife. The man looked up and didn't have time to react as Gabriel pushed him to the ground and held the man's hand to his mouth.

"NO NO NO!" He screamed as Gabriel bit down on his finger and ripped away at hard as he could taking the man's finger with him.

"GABRIEL!" The boy turned to see Mikasa and the others staring at him. Eren's eyes widened as Gabriel spat out the finger and turned to look at them.

Those eyes…

My God those eyes…..

Gone were the bright happy eyes of the boy they adopted into their family. His eyes were narrowed and his pupils constricted. A look of nothing short of murderous rage.

"Stop!" Mikasa cried. Hearing his sisters voice, Gabriel's eyes suddenly returned to normal. He shook his head in confusion as he looked down at what he had done.

"N-n-no!" He whimpered. The man's face was bloodied beyond recognition. Gabriel slowly got up as tears formed at his eyes. He looked back to his comrades who were horrified at what they had witnessed…

"_Dear God Gabriel." _Reiner thought in shock. No one would have ever believed he was capable of this. Gabriel walked to a wall and slumped down as he began to cry. His tears and wails prompted Eren and Mikasa to run over and hug him. Gabriel didn't hesisite to grasp both of them in a hug.

"I-I-iM S-SORRY!" He yelled with sniffling and wailing. "I D-DIDNT M-M-MEAN TO DO IT!"

"It's okay Gabriel." Mikasa said running her hand through his hair. "You were just protecting Sasha."

"You won't get in trouble." Eren said. "I'll make sure they know you did it to save your comrade." He concluded as the sounds of footsteps approached as Military Police entered the area. Gabriel couldn't help but helplessly cry into their shoulders.

_**Project Zeus file IV**_

"_**-Reports show the children of this horrible project all died in the program."**_

**R&R, reviews really do help motivate me to write more!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"What happened?" Shadis asked sternly. Seated before him were the witnesses of Gabriels attack, excluding the man himself and Sasha. Sasga was at the infirmary being treated for her wounds.. She spotted a black eye and a broken nose along with multiple lacerations across her face. She was pretty shaken up but remembered she was training to be a soldier and stayed strong. Gabriel sat outside the office nervously twiddling his thumbs.

"Some thug was attacking her." Eren said looking to Sasha. "He was just protecting her!"

"Protecting a comrade I can understand." Shadis said. "Brutally beating a civilian however I can not turn a blind eye to, no matter how much he deserved it."

"Sir you can't be seri-" Eren tried to say as Mikasa muffled his mouth before he said something stupid.

"Annie was the only one who actually saw what happened, we only arrived in the aftermath." Mikasa explained.

"That so?" Shadis asked. The man had been beaten to within an inch of his life. Gabriel was a very strong boy, Shadis had seen him pick up rocks and logs weighing hundreds of pounds without breaking a sweat. That combined with the animalistic nature of how he attacked led to some gory results. "What happened Leonhardt?"

"We were outside a store and heard a scream, Gabriel recognized it as Sasha's and he sprinted to the source till we came to an alleyway where that thug was on top of her punching her. That was when he attacked."

"I see." Shadis said. The MPs had made a very large deal of this but personally the Commandant believed Gabriel to be in the clear. The man had obviously been a criminal and Shadis believed such people should be thrown out the walls and fed to the Titans. However, his position demanded that he remain unbiased.

"You are all dismissed, send Heimer in on your way out." Shadis ordered. The cadets saluted as they walked out to see Gabriel with his head down.

"Hey you Alright?" Eren asked.

"N-no" Gabriel sniffled.

"You'll be fine." Reiner said putting his hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "Any one of us would have done the same thing." Reiner than leaned in for a quick whisper. "Imagine if Eren got beat up and Mikasa saw it, she wouldn't control her ovaries I'll tell you that much." Reiner quickly stood back up to make sure Mikasa didn't hear him. He was truthfully scared of her. If she had been the one to be attacked instead of Sasha than that thug would have been better off running into Titan territory with no gear.

"Hehe." Gabriel said with a mix of laughter and crying.

"You'll be okay Gabriel." Mikasa said sweetly.

"T-thanks M-mik." Gabriel said to his sister. He gulped as he got up and walked into Shadis office.

"Why?" The Commandant asked. "Why is it every time something happens it involves you and Braus?"

"U-um." Gabriel said nervously. He didn't want to get yelled at again.

"You know." Shadis said folding his hands together and leaning forward. "You are without a doubt one of the best and most lethal cadets I've ever trained. Only the best of the Survey Corps match your skill in ODM gear."

"T-thanks!" Gabriel said happily incorrectly assuming he was in the clear.

"I'm not finished." Shadis said strictly. "You have caused me headaches powerful enough to rival the Colossal Titans footsteps. What the hell were you thinking? You could have killed that man!"

"I-I-I'm sorry!" Gabriel said sniffling. "I-I-I d-didn't m-mean it!

"Huh." Shadis sighed. Despite pressure from MPs and others, the decision to keep Gabriel in was ultimately up to him. "Well after reviewing the accident, despite your rather brutal show of force, you were in the right. You can stay."

"R-really!" Gabriel asked happily.

"Just understand the next time you have to come to my office it will be for me to escort you the exit understood?" Shadis asked.

"Y-Yes sir!" Gabriel said. He was so relieved he didn't have to leave.

"Get out of here, I have work to do." Shadis said. Gabriel wasted no time in leaving as quickly as he could and ran to tell his friends the good news.

**Xxx**

"That's great!" Eren said rejoicing. He was really worried about his brother having to leave. Gabriel was happy to be able to stay but he still felt guilty over what he did. Gabriel was with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin who were outside sitting near the lake..

"H-hey guys?" He asked sadly. "A-am I a b-bad guy?" The three opened their eyes wide at hearing this.

"Of course you aren't!" Armin quickly said. He had been witness to the carnage but had heard about it in brutal detail.

"A-are y-you s-scared Of m-me n-now?" He asked. He could only imagine how monstrous he must have looked to the others.

"No, you are our brother." Mikasa said smiling. "The only thing that scares us about you is the thought of losing you." Gabriel happily smiled, he was so happy he met these three, even if the circumstances were bad.

"T-thanks y-you g-guys." Gabriel said. "I-I w-would n-n-not b-be here if I-I-I d-didn't m-meet you." He said truthfully and wholeheartedly. He got up and embraced them tightly in a genuine hug.

"Am I interrupting?" The four immediately broke the hug and saw Bertholdt standing nearby with a bag in his hand.

"Oh hey Bertholdt!" Eren waves. Bertholdt waved back as he walked closer.

"H-hi B-Bertie!" Gabriel said. "I-I g-get t-to s-stay!"

"Awesome!" Bertholdt said holding out his hand for a high five. Part of him was nervous being around Gabriel after what he saw but knew that he would never do that to any of them. "Hey uh, you dropped this, before you know-" Gabriel walked up and saw the bag of meat and raised his eyebrows.

Y-you f-found it?!" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, you dropped it and when I saw what was inside I figured you paid quite a bit for it." Bertholdt said meekly.

"W-Wow! You're the b-b-best B-Bertie!" Gabriel said hugging the tall boy who chuckled at his actions. Gabriel then looked in the bag, there was quite a bit of meat in there and they all did help him a lot.

"H-hey g-guys?" Gabriel said to the group. "I g-got s-s-something for everyone." He reaches in and pulled out half a slab of meat. The four raised their eyebrows in shock.

"Is that, meat?" Eren asked in surprise.

"I-I-I d-don't h-have e-enough f-for o-our c-class s-so d-don't t-tell a-anyone." Gabriel said. He'd feel bad if someone knew that they didn't get any. The group quickly obliged and got to making a small fire to cook the rare dish.

Xxx

Sasha sat alone in her infirmary room. She rubbed her aching head with ice as she laid down. She was getting hungry, despite her laying down all day and not burning any calories, her appetite was as if she spent the whole day sprinting up a mountain.

"What id do for some thick juicy meat." She said as a hint of drool leaked from her mouth. Her daydreaming was interrupted by another ache in her cheek.

"Ow!" She cried rubbing it. She was scared to say the least, she had never been attacked like that. She shivered at remembering how helpless she was against her attacker. She wasn't strong like Annie or Mikasa, she sat and wondered about her worth as a soldier. She couldn't even stop a person, how was she ever gonna kill a Titan? She had been unconscious by the time she was found and didn't remember anything after the first few hits to her face. She remembered Christa who had come in to see her earlier that day.

**Six hours earlier.**

Christa frantically ran to the infirmary upon hearing what happened to Sasha. She opened the door to see a bruised and bloody Sasha laying on a bed in pain.

"Oh no!" She cried running over. She had brought some water and fruit hoping it would make her feel better. Somehow, despite her injuries, Sasha immediately lunged at the apple Christa was holding and practically ate it whole.

"Thank you!" Sasha cried after her last swallow.

"Are you okay?" Christa asked. She hated seeing her friends like this.

"I'm okay." Sasha said not wanting to think about what happened. "How did I get here?"

"Gabriel saved you." Christa said. Sasha's ears perked up at the mention of that name.

"Gabriel?" Sasha asked.

"I didn't see it but Reiner was saying how he ran in and pulled that thug off you and then went ballistic on him." Christa explained. "He beat him up so bad the guy had to go the hospital."

"He did that?" Sasha asked shocked. She didn't think Gabriel was even capable of raising a hand at anyone.

"He was so mad when he saw you getting hit." Christa said rubbing ice on her friends face. "Reiner said it was angriest he had ever seen anyone."

"_He saved me? Oh Gabriel…._" Sasha thought. Once again the resident giant had come to her rescue.

"Is he okay?" Sasha asked.

"He's fine but he's in a lot of trouble now." The blonde said. "He's currently in the commandant's office."

"NO!" Sasha yelled leaning forward but quickly stopped once sharp pain rose up her side.

"You need to rest!" Christa said as Sasha lie prone again.

"I have to help! He's in trouble because of me!" Sasha said full of guilt. "Because I was too weak."

"You're not weak!" Christa replied.

"Yes I am, Mikasa or Annie would have been able to kick that guys butt, all I could do was just sit there and get beat up." Sasha said sadly. "I don't think I'll make it as a soldier, I'm the weakest one in the class."

"That's not true!" Christa said. "Look at how small I am, I don't think there's a single person I could beat in a fight in our class."

"I just feel bad that he always has to come save me, first it was me fainting and then this." Sasha said.

"Well it's cause he cares about you." Christa said smiling. "He cares about all of us and would protect us."

"He is a really good guy." Sasha agreed. Gabriel was too pure for this world.

"Well I got to go now, I'm on fire watch now. I'll see you later!" Christa said leaving Sasha to ponder her thoughts.

**Present time.**

Sasha kept thinking about that tall boy. His bright blue eyes, his happy and goofy smile, and his musculature that is nearly impossible to obtain. Here thoughts were interrupted when the door slowly opened. Immediately the familiar and sacred scent of her favorite food of All overwhelmed her olfactory system as adrenaline began to numb the pain in her body in order to quench the sensation within her. Gabriel yelled as Sasha moved almost to fast for his reflexes. He quickly pulled the bag away but just barely as Sasha embarrassingly face planted on the ground.

"Owww!" She slowly groaned.

"S-Sasha!" Gabriel cried. Sasha immediately snapped back to her senses and looked up to the boy who had rescued her.

"Oh Gabriel!" She said once again looking like a fool in front of him. "Hi!" She greeted awkwardly.

"Are y-you o-Okay?" He asked with great concern as he got on his knees and scooped her into his arms.

"Wait I-" Sasha cried. She didn't want to the damsel in distress again. She froze up when she felt his strong and powerful fingers slowly clasp her back and the back of her knees and picked her up. She couldn't believe these hands capable of tearing a person in half could be so gentle. Her head lie against his chiseled barrel chest and she felt….safe. He gently laid her down on her bed as he sat beside her with his bag in tow.

"I-I-I g-got y-you s-something." He said reaching I got the bag. Sasha gulped upon seeing a chunky slab of rib meat dripping with sweet juices. Her instincts told her to tear it from his hand without delay but she restrained herself.

"Meat?!" She said in shock. "You got that for me?"

"Y-Yes." Gabriel said smiling before slowly saddening his face. "I-I saw h-how h-happy y-you l-looked when y-you s-s-saw it. I g-got I-I-it a-and t-then…." Sasha didn't know what came over her in that moment but she placed her hand on his much larger one.

"Gabriel you saved my life." Sasha said truly grateful. "If you hadn't been there then who knows what would have happened to me."

"I-i k-know but I-i d-d-don't w-want t-t-to hurt p-people." He said referring to the man he nearly beat to death.

"I know." Sasha said rubbing her thumb over his hand. She could tell he felt horrible about what he did, like a dog who had chewed their masters priceless cloth. "And I really appreciate the gift, you are a great friend."

"T-t-Thanks." Gabriel said happily. He was glad he could make her feel better. He offered the meat to Sasha who quickly lost all her bearing and tore into the food spraying juices and chucks all over the room.

Xxx

**Seven weeks later.**

It was almost here, graduation. Three years of back breaking training was coming to an end. The cadets were eager to either live the good life in the interior, protect the walls, or charge straight into Hell. Mina, Connie, Eren, Gabriel and several others were on the wall overlooking Trost performing maintenance on the cannons.

"Whew this damn thing won't budge!" Connie cried trying to lift the cannon up more so he could oil the underside. He had tried with all his strength but it was futile.

"Let me try." Eren said as he walked over. He placed both hands underneath and lifted with all his might. His forearms and legs screaming from the exertion but it was no use.

"Be careful guys!" Mina cried. "Those things weigh a ton!

"Sheesh how do they even-" Connie said to himself as the cannon lifted off the ground. He looked up to see Gabriel holding the ENTIRE platform with just one hand.

"Holy shit man!" Connie said in disbelief. How could anyone be that strong?

"Show off." Eren said chuckling.

"Hey guys!" The group turned to see Sasha running over. Her wounds had healed nicely and she was in good spirits. Gabriel smiled at seeing her and waved to her. She finally came to a stop in front of the group.

"Guess what I got from the storage lounge!" She said in a sing song voice as she pulled out a slab of meat.

"WHAAAAAAATT!" The cadets screamed in horror. Had she actually stole food from the officers lounge?!

"I told you not suggest that idea!" Eren said to Gabriel who nervously chuckled. Last week Sasha had been mentioning how she wanted meat again and Gabriel had innocently suggested the officers lounge would be a good place to grab it.

"Oh come on guys!" Sasha said putting the meat out." I'm gonna share!"

"Well isn't that case guess I'll have some." Connie said.

"Save me a piece!" Mina said as she walked over leaving Eren and Gabriel to overlook Trost.

"Man look at us now, we are ready, we will take back our land!" Eren said triumphantly. "Come tomorrow the Scout Regiment awaits us and we will kill all these damn titans!"

"Y-yeah!" Gabriel said slapping Erens hand as a massive blinding light covered their vision. Eren and Gabriel slowly turned their heads only to be blown away by a powerful gust of wind which sent the cadets flying over. Gabriel took no time in using his ODM gear to latch onto the walls and swing his way back up to see what had happened. Maybe a cannon blew up? He saw Eren frantically running up the wall with a vengeful look in his face. Gabriel didn't know why he was so angry until he too came over the top and saw the demon that plagued humanity.

The Colossal Titan was back again.

Which meant another certain Titan was due for an appearance.

"Armored Titan! You're mine you son of a Bitch!" Gabriel roared as he charged towards the Colossal Titan with Eren.

**To answer some questions**

**No I do not have a set update schedule. I'm an anarchist and like to update whenever I can. I try to get at least one chapter a week.**

**And yes, there is a very good reason why Gabriel is so strong. He's not just strong out of nowhere, you will see in the far future chapters.**

**As for his mental handicap. I don't have an official condition. It's an amalgamation of ADHD, Stuttering, and basic mental slowness.**

**Read and review! Reviews inspire me to pump out more chapters faster!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Air flew past Gabriel as he ascended the wall and saw the enemy of humanity standing behind it. Gabriel wasted no time, he immediately launched into the air as he fired his hooks into the Colossal Titans arm. Meanwhile, Eren had also scaled the other arm allowing for them to meet at the nape to kill the Titan once and for all. The Titan tried to move its arm but it was too slow. It was like trying to swat at a gnat moving at super speeds. Eren noticed the Colossal Titan actively move to avoid Gabriel, almost as if it feared him. By the the time Eren reaches the nape, Gabriel was already there as they met and prepared to slice the nape only to be blown back by a massive steam cloud with blew away their anchors. The two quickly fried their anchors into the wall to avoid the fatal drop and were shocked to see only two deep footprints where the Titan once stood.

"Dammit!" Eren yelled in anger. He had been so close!

"Uh Eren!" Gabriel said pointing his sword to the massive hole where the districts gate once stood. Eren growled, he saw the gate get kicked down but Gabriel must have missed it in the heat of the moment.

"Shit come on we gotta help evacuate!" Eren said turning to scale the wall but looked back to see Gabriel hadn't moved a muscle. "Hey come on!" Gabriel didn't hear him though, his eyes scanned the horizon. If the Colossal Titan has shown up, then for sure _he_ would be here…

"Come on, come and find me." Gabriel said narrowing his eyes. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even see the approaching titans drawn by the scent of human presence.

"No!" Eren yelled. Gabriel was way too close to the titans grasp. A fifteen meter Titan would have no problem snagging him and making him a nutritious breakfast. Eren took no time in shooting towards his brother and grabbing him around the waist.

"E-Eren?" Gabriel asked snapping out of his trance. He then looked down and saw the grotesque and demented smile of a fifteen meter Titan opening its disgusting mouth. "WOOOOOAH! He yelled as Eren pulled him up to safety. When the two reached the top Eren angrily confronted him.

"You could have gotten killed! What were you doing?" Eren asked.

"S-sorry!" Gabriel said. "I j-just, No. I needed to find him so I could _kill_ him."

"You'll get your chance!" Eren said. "You need to focus, let's kill all these other ones first!"

"Y-yeah!" Gabriel said as the two jumped off the wall to see a dozen titans of various size already and in the district. Eren looked down to see a Titan with its back turned to him. Eren smiled as he honed I'm in his first kill. He fired his anchors and yelled with a vengeance as he prepared to cleave the titans flesh with his swords. He saw a faint blur followed by spurting blood from the titans nape. Eren gasped as the Titan fell down dead before he could even get to it. He braced himself as he landed clumsily on the ground.

"What was that?!" He asked himself as he heard another loud thud. He turned to see that four titans were lined up next to his one, all dead.

"_How are they all dead? Only a group could have done that! The only one with me was…._" Eren thought as Gabriel, covered in crimson blood, landed next to him, his blades dulled and steaming from evaporating titan tissue.

"G-Gabriel!" Eren cried out. "Did you kill all those?"

"Y-yeah!" Gabriel said as he quickly exchanged his full blades for new ones. Erens jaw dropped.

"_He killed five titans in the time it took me to get down here!"_ Erens mind was blown, only a vetaran Scout could have pulled something like that off.

"Shit, looks like you have no trouble applying training to real life." Eren said. He was impressed but also quite jealous. He couldn't even imagine how strong Gabriel would be after a few years in the Scouts. Loud footsteps were heard as several more titans converged on them. Eren and Gabriel quickly turned to face the giants before they were flattened by cannon fire.

"Cadets!" A garrison trooper yelled as he landed next to them. "Holy shit!" He said observing the five disappearing Titan corpses. "Did you two do that?"

"No sir, only he did." Eren pointing to Gabriel. The garrison soldier looked wide eyed at Gabriel.

"Are you a scout? I thought they departed on a mission earlier?" The soldier asked.

"N-nope!" Gabriel said before turning his back to show the cadet corps insignia on his back. "See?"

"Y-you're a cadet?" The soldier asked in disbelief. "And you did that?"

"Y-Yup!" Gabriel said. The soldier was in awe. This cadet, whom never had been on the field before, had single handedly bagged more Titan kills than 90% of the military in less than a minute.

"Okay listen up!" The soldier regaining his bearing. "The citizens have all begun evacuating, our job now is to kill the titans coming in till they all get behind Wall Rose. You!" He said pointing to Eren. "Go to HQ and link up with your squad!"

"Yes sir!" Eren said saluting as he flew away towards HQ. Gabriel was about to follow till he was stopped.

"And you? You're coming with me." The soldier ordered.

"Y-Yes sir!" Gabriel said as the two took off.

**Xxx**

"Dammit!" Jean said hitting the pillar in front of him. "Why today of all days? I was supposed to be in the interior tomorrow!" All around the courtyard cadets displayed their fear in various ways from non stop shaking to vomiting.

"It's okay!" Christa said patting a cadet on the back who keeled over while emptying his stomach.

"Oh shit!" Connie said in anxiety. He had always thought killing titans would be badass but now that he was actually here, it was a different ballgame. The group was interrupted when Eren landed in the courtyard.

"Eren!" Mikasa cries running to him and grabbing his hands. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" He said slapping her hands away.

"Did you get him?" Connie asked. "The Colossal?" The cadets who had been on the wall with him had been too occupied trying not to fall to their death and subsequent hole in the wall to see what happened to the Titan.

"No, bastard got away!" Eren said angrily.

"How could you miss! He's taller than the walls and was three feet in front of you!" Connie yelled.

"I didn't see you helping!" Eren angrily retorted.

"Calm down guys!" Armin said walking over.

"Wait where's Gabriel?" Connie asked looking around. "Don't tell me-"

"He's fine, he got sent somewhere else. I don't know where though." Eren replied as he explained what happened.

"You're lying! He took down five titans that fast!?" Connie said in disbelief.

"Why would I lie about that?" Eren yelled.

"I believe him." Jean said walking over. He knew how gifted Gabriel was with his gear. "You really think this suicidal maniac would admit someone being better than him?" Despite the feeling of dread and impending doom, Jean somehow calmed down enough just so he could piss off Eren.

"Not the time you horse face!" Eren growled.

"No, I won't believe it till I see it with my own eyes!" Connie said as the cadets were assembled.

**Xxx**

A line of dead titans lined the street. The amount of steam nearly made it impossible to see anything. The garrison soldier coughed after inhaling too much.

"Holy shit!" He muttered. Gabriel had killed every single Titan that crossed his path. It was like a sharp clothesline had shot across the city at the exact height of the titans nape. He needed to report this kids ability to command. Never before in history since Captain Levi had someone shown such skill. While Gabriel's form was flawless, he tended to go through gas and blades a little too quickly, which would be a death sentence in some scenarios. They two landed near the gate to Wall Rose where a horde of civilians were waiting to get in. The shouts and screams were deafening as they tried to funnel into the small gate to safety. Safety was not guaranteed, however, if the Armored Titan showed up then humanity as a whole was screwed.

"Sir!" The soldier yelled to an older garrison trooper who had a long thick beard and thick head of hair.

"What are you doing here? I told you to that you needed to be up front!" The garrison captain scolded.

"I know sir! I needed you to see this though." The trooper said pointing to Gabriel. "This cadet killed eleven titans since the wall was broken twenty minutes ago.

"What? Did you say cadet?" The captain asked.

"Yes sir, Cadet- Um what was your name again?" He asked Gabriel.

"C-c-cadet H-Heimer !" Gabriel said saluting.

"You're telling me this cadet killed eleven titans?" The Captain scoffed. "You're delusional, stress of the fight is getting to you!"

"I'm not lying!" The trooper cried. "Why would I have taken the risk of coming all the way over when-" He was caught off by loud footsteps. The crowd went quiet as they all slowly turned. The footsteps grew louder and louder until a massive abnormal appeared from around the corner and began sprinting towards the crowd. The Captain yelled as the crowd broke out in stark terror. He turned to see Gabriel was already gone.

"Dammit it's too fast!" A soldier pursuing the Titan yelled. The speed this abnormal was at was too fast for average soldiers to keep up with. The Titan was almost on the citizens when suddenly the titans legs were severed followed by both arms while a blur sliced through the nape literally cutting the Titan to pieces.

"Holy shit!" The soldiers cried seeing the Titan seemingly slice out of nowhere. The Titan fell to the ground as Gabriel landed next to it.

"I-I-I-" The Captain said in shock.

"Now do you believe me Captain Woermann?" The soldier asked.

"Y-yuck!" Gabriel said spitting out some Titan blood that had gotten in his mouth. The pursuing soldiers landed next to him and in awe.

"That insignia! He's a cadet!" One of them yelled. Captain Woermann quickly regained his bearing and ordered the cadet over to him.

"Cadet! Over here now!" Gabriel quickly ran over to the Captain. "I need you to link up with others in the front near the breach, find Squad 34 and join them!"

"Yes sir!" Gabriel said as he launched off leaving everyone with a jaw dropping expression. Gabriel flew through the city easily dispatching any titans he came across. Numerous distress smoke signals had been fired and he had to go help those in need.

"No NOOOO!" A female cadet soldier yelled as the Titan held her in its grasp. The soldier fought like a cornered animal to escape but it was no use. The Titan slowly brought her to its mouth where she could already smell the abhorrent stench. Her blonde hair coated in sweat and saliva from the titans mouth.

"_I dont wanna die! Someone please come!"_ She thought as tears rolled down her young face. Seconds felt like hours as she came ever closer to the jaws of death. She shut her eyes whimpering waiting for that fatal bite, she only hoped the Titan would bite through her neck killing her quickly.

"CHRISTA!" She heard the familiar sound of whirring wires and a loud yet quick slash. She slowly opened her eyes and felt the Titans grip loosen. She saw the Titan begin to fall down and was about to celebrate only to realize she was close to forty feet in the air and her ODM gear had been damaged by the titans grasp. She only felt free fall for a moment till she felt powerful large arms grab her and she was shot off into the distance. She hyperventilated as she finally landed quite a ways from where she was in a supply area where dozens of soldiers were resupplying on gas and blades. She finally let herself hit the ground and let out a deep wheezing breaths. It had all happened so fast, she estimated not even two minutes had passed from when the Titan grabbed her to her being here. She finally looked up to see her rescuer standing tall and powerful.

"G-Gabriel!" She cried. She didn't wait to hug him out of gratitude. Gabriel smiled as he leaned down to return the hug. Christa squealed at feeling the strength of his hug. He was as strong as the Titan that grabbed her. "Thank you so much! I would have been killed!"

"Y-you're welcome!" He said. Christa didn't want to let go of him out of gratitude and out of fear.

"I'll never forget this." She said squeezing tighter. Gabriel looked up and saw people were looking at the two of them. He gulped as he remembered that Ymir would kill him if she saw him with her like this.

"Hey cadets!" A captain yelled. "Enough loving and more killing! Get back up to your positions!" The two quickly broke the hug and saluted.

"Yes sir!" The two yelled. Christa went to get new gear while Gabriel replaced his gas and blades. Once they were done they met up and prepared to move up.

"Y-y-you ready?" He asked.

"Yes!" Christa said. She was glad he was going with her. The two shot their anchors into buildings and took off. Christa watched in shock as he moved like a hurricane shredding titans to pieces.

"_I knew you were good, but…..not like this!"_ She thought, now she realized what Eren was saying earlier. He could no doubt take out every Titan in the city by himself if he had access to enough gear. The two moved forward till they noticed a large group of cadets on rooftops. They came down and noticed the somber atmosphere.

"Gabriel!" Connie cried seeing Gabriel and Christa land. "Oh man I'm glad you two are alright! It's been a slaughter fest here!"

"That bad?" Christa asked sadly.

"Thomas, Mina, and." Connie said. Gabriel's heart dropped hearing Thomas and Mina has died. He saw them both just an hour ago alive and well. "Eren is gone too." Gabriel dropped his blades on the ground and fell to his knees. Eren, his brother who had sworn to take down the Colossal Titan was dead?

"E-Eren." Gabriel weakly said. Most boys liked to hide their crying due to gender stereotypes, especially because they were soldiers but Gabriel had never been one to hide what he was feeling. Christa sadly hugged him.

"I'm sorry Gabriel." Christa said sweetly. She knew this wouldn't bring Eren back but she hoped the hug would make him feel better. "I-Is M-Mikasa and A-Armin Okay?"

"Yeah they are over there." Connie said noting Mikasa was now on the edge of the roof they were all on. She raised her blade and yelled a triumphant speech.

"I'm strong! Extremely strong! I will kill them! If you all want to stay here like cowards! That's fine by me!" She yelled as she took off.

"Mikasa!" Gabriel cried as he immediately shot after her. Seeing this made others follow suit.

"Since when did we leave a comrade to fight on their own?" Jean yelled. "Come on!" The rest of the cadets yelled as they charged too. Gabriel was worried about Mikasa. She was definitely using too much gas, even he could tell. His worries came true when she suddenly fell to the ground from using her supply.

"NOOOO!" He yelled as she fired down to find her. He couldn't tell where she went and frantically looked for her. He turned to a corner where she stood with no gas and dull blades. She looked so sad… Gabriel immediately ran to her.

"Gabriel?" Mikasa asked seeing her brother run towards her. She wasn't ready when he slammed into her and embraced her tightly.

"I-I-I d-don't w-want t-t-t-to l-lose you t-too!" He whimpered as she cried into her shoulder. Mikasa felt her heart rip with guilt as she hugged her brother.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect him!" Mikasa cried. Eren's death has fractured her sanity. She then looked up and screamed as a three meter Titan descended upon them. "LOOK OUT!" Gabriel turned just in time to see the Titan voraciously reach for them. His eyes narrowed as he smacked the titans arm away and ran up to strait to its face!

"Gabriel don't!" Mikasa yelled. Gabriel didn't hear her as the boy jumped and slammed his fist full force into the titans face. Mikasa gasped when the Titan flew into the ground hard from the hit. Gabriel than drew his sword and and stabbed the Titan through the throat and severing the nape in the process. Mikasa couldn't believe what she saw! He had actually punched a Titan and physically overpowered it! Had that ever been done before?!

"I-I w-won't l-l-Let t-them h-hurt m-my s-s-sis-ster!" He declared standing protectively in front of Mikasa as a 15 meter Titan turned from around the corner eager to chow down. Gabriel prepared to fire his anchors but suddenly was lifted into the air. He turned his head to see another Titan slam it's fist into the one that was attacking them.

**I know some of the dialogue and events isn't to a T but if it was the exact same dialogue and events as the show then it wouldn't be as interesting. I like to change things up a bit but it won't interfere with the main story much.**

**Gabriel's quite a ladies man eh? Lol.**

**As always, leave some juicy reviews!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapwter 9**

Gabriel and Mikasa braced themselves as the mysterious Titan slammed its fist into the other one completely decapitating it. Rubble fell down and Gabriel was quick to cover Mikasa to protect her as he felt rocks hit his back. He groaned from the pain but his thick layers of muscle protected any severe injuries. Once he felt the rubble stop falling he looked at the rogue Titan that shown up. It was different from the others, while normal titans were slender and pot bellied, this one was shredded with rippling muscles coursing through its body. It had long black hair and bright green eyes which were full of rage, pure animalistic rage. Gabriel assumed it to be an abnormal and quickly grabbed Mikasa in order to escape. He shot his anchors into the building and pulled her to a tall roof where they would be safe.

"Guys!" Gabriel turned to see Armin land on the roof as well. "I was looking all over for you!"

"Armin!" Gabriel cried happily as he hugged the short blonde boy. Armin let out a happy smile, while Erens death haunted him, he was so happy Gabriel and Mikasa were okay.

"Everyone made a break for HQ. You should get going." Armin said gulping.

"What do you mean 'you'" Mikasa asked. "You mean we."

"I don't have enough gas to make it there." Armin said shaking. "I can at least distract the titans while you guys escape."

"NO!" Gabriel yelled. "I'll c-c-carry you!"

"You have to carry her." Armin said pointing to a horrified Mikasa. She then realized how hypocritical she was being given the stunt she attempted to pull…..

"No, I-I w-will c-carry y-y-you both!" Gabriel decreed. "I-I'm n-not l-letting y-you d-die!"

"Armin he's right!" Mikasa said full of emotion. "We are not leaving you here!" Gabriel didn't even give either a chance to speak again as he grabbed both of them around the waist and lifted them without much strain. He was thankful these two were light.

"What about that Titan?" Mikasa asked before Gabriel had a chance to fire his anchors. He turned to see the rogue Titan attacking its kind indiscriminately.

"A-abnormal!" Gabriel said.

"Maybe but." Armin began formulating. "Maybe we can use him, he's not even bothering us and is solely focused on killing the other titans. If we lure him to HQ he can help clear the titans there!"

"How do we get him to follow us if he's ignoring us?" Mikasa asked.

"As we go, other titans will follow and he will follow them." Armin said. "It's a risk but it might just work.

"W-Wow I-I w-wish I w-was a-a-as s-smart a-as y-you!" Gabriel said. Armin looked up at him in awe.

"_Gabriel, there is not a person in the walls that wouldn't want your strength." _Armin thought. Gabriel tightened his hold on them and fired his anchors off. Gabriel immediately noticed with the extra weight of two people he was moving much slower, the titans realized this too as they followed suit.

**Xxx**

"Damn cowards!" Jean screamed in anger punching a supply cadet who had hidden instead of helping resupply. "Because you didn't do your job people died!"

"Stop it man!" Connie yelled. He understood Jeans frustration but given the circumstances he could see why the supply team hid.

"Rotten fucks! Because of you Thomas, Mina, Gabriel, Mikasa! And _Eren _are all de-" Jean didn't have time to finish his sentence as the wall burst open sending debris and cadets flying backwards. Jean hit the ground hard and slowly got back up to figure out what happened. His heart dropped when he saw two titans starting at him with a hungry gaze.

"_Is this it? All those years of training for nothing? Well I can't be too shocked. I mean when you really think about it, there's no way of beating them." _He thought as he accepted the grisly fate of himself and humanity. He gasped when he saw a large hand slam into the two titans and sent them flying away. In the hole in the wall he saw a Titan with black hair let out a mighty roar.

"What the hell?" Jean yelled as nearby window bursted open and three bodies tumbled into the room.

"Mikasa?!" Jean asked as he saw Gabriel, Armin, and Mikasa slowly get up.

"Owie owie owie!" Gabriel cried hopping on one foot while holding the other. He had been too large to fit through the window and wound up hitting his right foot on the stone wall as he entered.

"You're Alright!" Connie yelled as he ran to help Armin up.

"Guys!" Reiner cried running over as well. Gabriel felt small arms hug him from behind. He turned to see Sasha hugging him tightly.

"Gabriel!" Sasha cried. She was so glad he was okay. So many people died today.

"H-hi Potato !" He said causing Sasha to reel back.

"I thought everyone forgot about that!" She cried in horror.

"We made it thanks to him." Mikasa said smiling at Gabriel. When she and Armin had resigned to suicide, Gabriel brought them back from the brink and saved them both at high danger to himself.

"And look!" Armin said. "We found an abnormal that attacks the other titans and completely ignores us!"

"Holy shit!" Reiner said looking out the hole in the window as the rogue Titan kicked the head off an approaching three meter Titan.

"Now we can refuel and get the hell out of here!" Connie declares happily. Finally their luck was turning.

"We can't!" A supply cadet said. "The reason we could get the supplies out is because the room is full of titans."

"Titans in the supply room?" Armin said. "They'd have to be small, no larger than four meters to fit in there."

"Yeah." The supply cadet said. Armin focused as he slowly came up with an idea. "We have any guns?"

**Xxx**

"This is a horrible idea!" Jean said making his point well known.

"I think it'll work pretty well!" Reiner said. "As long as you know about the titans other weak spot!"

"T-they have a-another?!" Gabriel asked intrigued.

"Did I miss that in training?" Sasha asked confused.

"Yeah, if you jam the blade up their ass real good they go down quick." Reiner joked with a laugh.

"B-b-but t-Titan d-don't h-have b-buttholes!" Gabriel cried making everyone laugh.

"Really. You want the last thing you say to be an ass joke?" Jean said not having any of it. He was not enthusiastic about this plan. Having people hide in the rafters while the others blinded the titans with muskets sounded too risky for his taste. He sucked it up though knowing they really had no choice. The cadets consisting of Mikasa, Annie, Jean, Connie, Gabriel, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Sasha made their way to the rafters. They waited stealthily as the titans in the supply room aimlessly wandered looking for a meal. It was quiet, the only sound being the Titans footsteps and rickety chain of the lift being lowered where over a dozen cadets had rifles at the ready. Gabriel bit his lip in anticipation. He couldn't get distracted, not now! He saw the lights from the lift illuminate the room which was followed by rounds of gunfire creating a smell of gunpowder in the room. Those in the rafters immediately swooped down for the kill. Gabriel easily cleaved away the flesh of the nape. The Titan fell down with a boom followed by the other cadets doing the same.

Except for two…

Connie and Sasha had not cut deep enough and as a result, had drawn the titans focus on them.

"Shit!" Connie yelled. Mikasa was fast to act as she killed the Titan almost immediately. It fell to the ground dead but Sasha was nearly in the titans grasp. Gabriel saw this and instinct took over as he moved as fast as he could to save her! He checked his blades and they were all dulled!

"I'm sorry!?" Sasha said to the Titan as it looked down on her. The small three meter reached out its hand to devour her but was quickly pulled away when Gabriel swooped down from the rafters again and kicked the Titan square in the face knocking it back. Gabriel landed in between the Titan and Sasha as it reaches its hands out to grab Gabriel.

"Shit!" Reiner yelled getting ready to attack but stopped when he saw Gabriel raises his arms up and lock hands with the Titan and was not only holding the Titan back but was actually pushing it! The cadets where at a loss for words. Mikasa saw this and launched forward slicing the titans nape and killing it. The Titan hit the ground and steamed away as all looked in boy, this boy had physically overpowered a Titan! Gabriel slowly got up and ran to Sasha who couldn't help but gape.

"S-Sasha!" Gabriel cried out. He felt very close to her, he didn't want her to be hurt!

"No frickin way!" Jean said. Was there anything Gabriel _couldn't _do?!

"I don't believe it!" Berthdolt said. How could he have that kind of strength?! Even Annie couldn't keep her eyes away. This kid was on a superhuman level.

"I can't believe it!" Marco yelled from the lift. "Did I see that right?!"

"Gabriel?" Sasha asked once again being the damsel in distress. She hated how weak she was, seeing Gabriel take down a Titan with his bare hands like that reminded her how puny and weak she was. Of all the people in the walls over that lived last one hundred years, only one other human had ever accomplished fighting a Titan with his hands, his name was Captain Levi.

"I don't get it!" Jean said. "How does he do that? He has to be able to lift five hundred pounds to generate that kind of power!"

"Actually he can lift close to a thousand." Armin interjected. He had personally witnessed Gabriel deadlift 985 pounds.

"No you're shitting me!" Jean said. His mind just couldn't comprehend this!

"A-are y-you Okay?" Gabriel asked. He gently helped Sasha up. She couldn't believe it, these same hands that overpowered a _Titan _to its knees were gentle enough to help her up.

"I'm okay." She said. "Thanks again." She said. "I wish I could repay you." She felt so bad that Gabriel saved her again and again and she couldn't return the favor.

"A-as l-long a-as y-y-you s-smile a-and a-Are s-sage I-I'm happy!" Gabriel innocently said. He truly did value her a lot. All the hunting trips they had gone on and all the stories they exchanged made him feel very close to her.

"_You're too good for this world." _Sasha thought for millionth time. She couldn't help but recall all the nice things he had done for others.

**Two years ago.**

Jean was fuming at seeing his mother show up. The last thing he needed was for others to see him get babied by his mom like this. He had been very rude and cruel yelling at her and insulting her telling her to leave him alone. Despite the snickers of other cadets, Gabriel approached him.

"A-are y-y-you Okay?" He asked sincerely.

"Yeah." Jean admitted, anyone other than Gabriel or Marco he would have told to leave him alone. Jean felt he could talk to Gabriel and wouldn't be judged. "I just wish she wouldn't baby me like this! I'm almost a grown man! I don't need her breathing down my neck!"

"I-i-I c-can't t-t-talk t-t-to m-my m-mommy a-a-anymore." Gabriel sniffled. Jean suddenly felt guilt rising in him. He had heard how Gabriel's mother died giving birth to him and that his father had turned to alcohol and abused him daily, blaming him for his wife's death. Gabriel had lost his other mother when his Aunt died in the Wall Maria attack.

"Sorry." Jean said. "I guess I don't appreciate what I have cause I haven't lost it."

"I-I-I wish I-I could h-hug m-m-ma-mama j-just o-once." Gabriel said sadly. "A-always t-tell h-her y-y-you l-love her." Gabriel had just wanted to tell his mom how much he loved her, just once. She had loved him so much she gave him life. Because of her he met his new friends, he would give anything to just to talk to her. "S-She w-was r-r-really p-pretty." His aunt and uncle had told him how beautiful this mother was. Bright blue eyes just like he had, raven black hair and a slender figure. She had died smiling holding her baby boy in her hands after giving birth to him.

"I will." Jean said patting Gabriel on the shoulder. "Thanks for helping me appreciate her. You are a true friend Gabriel."

**Xxx**

Connie was full of himself to say the least. He truly believed he was the savior of mankind. While he wasn't the best in the class, he certainly was talented.

"You know what I'm saying Gabe?" Connie said. "Naturals like us are in a different league!"

"Hey over there!" Gabriel turned to see a group of children no older than seven run up to them. "Are you the really good cadet? The one with the shaved head?"

"Hah! You bet!" Connie said proudly. "Captain Levi has named me as his successor!"

"Wow! He's as good as Captain Levi!" The boy said to his friends. "I can't wait to tell everyone I met him!" The children ran off just as Connie realized what he had said.

"Oh shit!" Connie suddenly realized. If word got out of what he said then he would be a laughingstock and worse, Captain Levi might hunt him down to teach him a lesson. "I screwed up now didn't I?"

"Y-y-you s-shouldn't l-lie." Gabriel said honestly. Connie was really nervous now. That damn kid would tell everyone in the walls how he, a cadet who had never seen combat, boasted about how he was the next Captain Levi when there were many others far more deserving of that title.

"Shit you're right!" Connie said. "I got to fix this! Will you help me?!"

"Yup!" Gabriel said. Connie smiled knowing Gabriel has his back. They spent all day hunting down the children but eventually found them in a park.

"He was sooooo cool!" The boy said. "He said he's Captain Levi's successor!" The other children awed in glory. Every child looked up to Captain Levi as their hero, Humanity's Strongest Soldier who would keep them safe. "Oh look there he is!" He yelled upon seeing Connie approach with Gabriel. The kids enthusiastically ran up the cadets.

"Oh hey guys." Connie said sheepishly. "Hey uh listen, I got a little carried away back there, I'm good but I ain't no Captain Levi."

"Aw man!" The boy said. "I thought you were cool!" Connie frowned and Gabriel saw this. He knew Connie was really self conscious about what other people thought.

"H-he I-I-is p-pretty g-good t-though!" Gabriel quickly said catching the departing children's attention. "H-he m-may n-n-not b-be a-as g-good as S-Superman b-b-b-but h-he I-is r-really g-g-good!" This brought a smile to Connie's face as the kids looked at him again with wonder.

"Wow! If the really strong guy there is saying that then you must be awesome!" The kids yelled. They continued to praise Connie before going off on other endeavors. Connie looked back up to Gabriel with a grateful look.

"Thanks man." Connie said. "I know I shouldn't care so much what people think but it's just no one ever thought I'd amount to anything back home. I just want to show people I can be something and, eh sorry I've never really told anyone that before."

"I-it's o-okay." Gabriel said. He too knew what it felt like to be told he'd never accomplish anything. Years of being ridiculed for his intelligence and being called demeaning names such as retard and freak had always made him feel bad about himself. "P-people a-always s-said I-I'd n-n-never d-do a-anything."

"Well I bet they'll all be eating their words now!" Connie said. He then realized that all those people who had said that were most likely in Shiganshina and were dead but luckily Gabriel didn't seem to catch on to that. "Looks we have more in common than I thought, you'll kick son serious ass one day and I hope I'm there to see it." Connie said.

"T-thanks!" Gabriel said happily. Connie felt much more humble now. Gabriel had showed him that he didn't need to brag to others to to be great.

**Xxx**

Sasha and Gabriel has just returned from a hunting trip but while they had located an animal, they had no caught it because Gabriel hesitated to fire the bow and arrow. The animal quickly noticed his presence and ran away much to Sasha's despair.

"Why did you let him get away?" Sasha asked with anger and shock as the entered the training camp.

"I-I d-d-didn't w-want t-t-to k-kill h-him." Gabriel confessed. Sasha had not seen it but Gabriel had noticed that next to the deer he had in his sights was a group of fawns. Once he saw the babies he knew he couldn't do it. "T-there w-were b-b-babies."

"What?" Sasha asked in shock. While she was hungry, she could understand why Gabriel didn't kill the animal. "I'm sorry I yelled, I'm just hungry."

"I-it's o-Okay!" Gabriel said quickly forgiving her as they entered the training camp. They encountered Ymir bickering with Connie as Christa looked on.

"Rgh! You make me so mad!" Connie angrily said.

"Oh get over in shrimp." Ymir said insulting Connie's height.

"Why you!" He said noticing Gabriel and Sasha walking over.

"W-what's g-going o-on?" Gabriel asked.

"Nothing, Ymir's just being her bitchy self." Connie replied.

"What she did?" Sasha asked in a noticeably different accent causing all eyes to turn to her. She quickly covered her mouth and started wide eyed.

"What was that?" Ymir taunted. "Some grammar."

"Uhhhh." Sasha said nervously.

"Is t-t-that h-how y-your v-v-village t-t-talks?" Gabriel asked.

"I uh! Gotta go!" Sasha said running away. Gabriel quickly pursued her. She stopped when she came around a corner.

"Dang talk." She said again in the accent.

"Sasha?" She yelled seeing Gabriel right behind her!

"Oh hi Gabriel! I just run to get exer-" Sasha slammed her hands over her mouth again. She looked away from Gabriel in shame.

"W-what's w-wrong?" Gabriel asked her.

"Nothing." She said still looking away. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Gabriel rubbing her shoulder.

"Y-you're s-sad." Gabriel said. "Y-you c-c-can t-tell m-me." Sasha sighed as she finally gave in.

"That is how people from my village talk." Sasha said. "People don't like it cause it sounds uneducated and dirty to them, I tried really hard to cover it up but it just slipped out."

"I-I-I d-don't t-t-think I-it's bad." Gabriel explained. "P-p-people m-make f-f-fun o-of m-my s-stutter all t-t-t-the t-time b-but I-I-I d-don't f-feel b-b-bad a-about it a-anymore."

"You really think so?" Sasha asked. She was worried everyone would judge her and not like here anymore because of the way she talked.

"Y-you're m-m-my b-buddy." Gabriel said. "A-as l-l-long a-as y-you h-h-have a g-good p-p-personality I-I w-will a-a-always b-be y-your b-buddy." Sasha felt a smile crawl across her face. He too had a speech issue but he learned to accept it and not care what others thought about it.

"I'm glad you are our friend." Sasha said. "I think one day you'll be the best soldier in history!"

"R-really?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah! If there's anyone who will reclaim our lost land it's you!" Sasha said. "And then we can get much more juicy meat!" She said drooling.

"Don't forget the potato's!" Gabriel said as Sasha gasped.

"Oh I'll never live that down!"

**Present Day.**

Sasha got to her feet as the cadets filled up on gas and blades. Gabriel was filling his gas when Jean came up to him.

"How did you get so strong?" Jean asked.

"Huh?" Gabriel asked.

"You wrestled a Titan!" Jean cried. "I get we've all gotten strong at training but you are on a whole different level."

"I j-j-Just a-always b-been s-strong." Gabriel explained. He tried hard to think when he got his strength but quickly was overwhelmed with a migraine as he clutched his head.

"Woah you okay?" Jean asked concerned.

"Owwww." Gabriel moaned clutching the throbbing pain in his head. This always happened whenever he tried to remember his early years. Like something was stopping him. The pain subsided as Gabriel still clutches his head. "I-it's g-gone n-now."

"Did you hit your head earlier?" Jean asked. Sometimes ODM gear could give its user a headache if they didn't properly adjust their head to move with spins.

"I-I'm f-fine now." Gabriel said. The cadets quickly filled their gear and happily exited the building and headed for the wall. Gabriel stopped when he saw Mikasa and Armin perched on a roof staring ahead of them. Gabriel turned to see the rogue titan from earlier being feasted on by several titans.

**R&R**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It was quite a sight to see, this mysterious Titan which had rampaged amongst its own kind was not being eaten alive. Numerous wounds exposed the titans rib cage as it lie there exhausted.

"Should we help it?" Reiner asked.

"Are you crazy?" Jean asked. "It's a Titan! It's just gonna snack on us if we help it."

"No it hasn't made any attacks on us." Mikasa interrupted. "His focus has been on titans."

"True, he may help us." Armin said." Jean could not believe what he was hearing."

"Have you guys gone batshit? A titans not gonna help us!" Jean said. "Why are we sitting here even talking about this? We can finally get out of this hell hole and you wanna stay?"

"Think about it, having an abnormal as an ally could be an advantage." Annie said. Gabriel looked into the titans eyes as it seemed to accept its grizzly fate. He felt, sorry for it.

"Oh shit!" Reiner yelled as an abnormal that had jumped landed near them. The Titan hit the ground hard but had its eyes on a bigger meal to chomp and ignored the cadets.

"It's the Titan that ate Thomas!" Armin cried. Suddenly the rogue Titan went insane and forced it's body to plow though the titans attacking him, it's arm being ripped off in the process. The Titan quickly bit the abnormal on the nape and lifted it over heard tearing the beasts nape. After this, the Titan finally ran out of strength and collapsed to the ground. The cadets were nervous now, either the titan was dead or it would regenerate and decide to snack on them next.

"Time to get out of here!" Jean cried out seeing as the Titan was dead.

"No wait!" Armin yelled. "Somethings happens in Look!" The cadets looked down to see the nape of the steaming Titan open and release a person.

"What the hell?!" Jean yelled. Upon closer examination, the person was-

"EREN!" Mikasa screamed as she immediately flew down to grab him. She pulled his body out till the meaty connections fell off. She then quickly put her head to his chest and waited anxiously.

"_Please please!" _She begged.

_Ba-bump ba-hump, ba-bump_

Hearing his heart beat and realizing he was alive overwhelmed her emotions as she embraced him tightly and let tears flow like a river. She had loved him for so long, she knew he didn't return her feelings but still, she knew he was what gave her happiness and strength. So long she had wanted him, so long she needed him, she wanted to be with him everyday and care for him. She only wished he felt the same. She heard anchors whirring and saw Gabriel had come down too. He quickly ran over with tears in his eyes and embraced both of them. Annie, Berthodlt, and Reiner merely stared with dark expression.

**Xxx**

Eren awoke to a massive headache and a lapse in memory. The last thing he remembered was.

The titans stomach…..

"_Ugh is this the afterlife?"_ He thought. People across the walls held various religious beliefs. Eren personally found there to be no such thing in a world as brutal as this one. His sentiment wa shared by most. He looked up and saw Gabriel defensively standing in front of him while he looked up to see his face was in Mikasa's lap. She had running her hand through his hair and holding his hand.

"You're awake!" Armin cried. He was overjoyed.

"Ugh What happened?" Eren asked. He didn't get a chance to speak as Mikasa pressed her lips to his. Mikasa felt her usually well regulated emotions take over and kissed Eren deeply. Eren was caught off guard and immediately pushed her off.

"Mikasa What the hell?!" Eren angrily yelled. Armin merely sat there in shock at what he witnessed. He knew how Mikasa felt about Eren but still, this was shocking to see.

"I-" Mikasa said horrified. She didn't mean to do it!

"Um g-guys!" Gabriel, who had not seen what happened, said. The three turned to see the garrison aiming guns and cannons at them.

"Oh shit!" Eren yelled. What was going on here?"

"Eren What do you remember?" Armin asked.

"I was eaten." Eren said. "And then I, my memory is kind of foggy."

"Prepare to fire!" A garrison captain yelled. Gabriel recognized him from earlier, it was Captain Woermann, his beard was easily identified.

"No!" Gabriel yelled running out at inhuman speeds to stop the soldiers. He wasn't fast enough and a cannon fired right in front of him. The ball missed his face by only two feet as it barreled towards his family. He looked in horror as he sprinted back to protect them but was knocked back by a blinding light and explosion. Gabriel was knocked back and slowly got up in anger. He only saw steam where his family once was, he slowly turned to Captain Woermann who had a look of shock

"The cannon would not have done such damage!" He said before he felt his throat quickly constrict. He was hoisted off his feet and looked down to see Gabriel fuming in rage.

"You killed them!" He yelled. All the soldiers quickly aimed their rifles on the delinquent cadet as Woermann gasped for breath. Gabriel was so mad, his family had been taken again, even worse, this time it was from people! "WHY?!"

"H-he's a-a t-Titan!" Kitz struggled. The soldiers had not fired for fear they'd hit their captain. Gabriel growled with rage as he tightened his grip only to be distracted by screaming.

"Holy shit it's a Titan!" The garrison quickly re aimed their weapons as Gabriel dropped Kitz to indeed see a partially formed Titan standing here the cannon struck. He drew his sword again to prepare to fight but something was off, this Titan only had a skeleton and some muscle tissue. It was steaming heavily as Gabriel squinted to get a better look, his eyes opened wide with joy when he saw his family were alive and safe. He felt a hit to the back of his head as he slightly stumbled. He quickly turned to see a shocked Kitz holding a rifle by the butt.

"_That should have knocked him out!"_ He thought. Gabriel looked at him sadly.

"I-I'm s-sorry." He sniffled. He hated when this happened, people got hurt when he got mad but he just couldn't control it! He loved everyone and just wanted to make them happy but there was something dark inside of him that was fighting for control.

"You really think after assaulting a senior officer, saying sorry will make up for it?!" Kitz yelled. "Shoot him!"

"No!" Armin screamed as he ran out to help Gabriel much to Eren and Mikasas horror. Gabriel gulped as he heard the cooking of guns around him. He tensed up hoping it was quick, he had seen what bullets do to people and was scared, he didn't want to die, not when he had so many people he loved.

"STOP!" Gabriel turned to see Armin behind him standing defiantly. "He's not our enemy! Gabriel saved my life and many others during the battle! He killed more titans than anyone else! Eren did the same thing! He allowed us to escape! They are allies to humanity! Both of them risked their lives to protect us! That is a fact! If someone has to be shot! Then shoot me! Just leave them alone!" Gabriel's eyes teared up feeling touched. His brother was willing to sacrifice his life for him. The soldiers didn't move, frozen by the passionate speech, Kitz however didn't share their sentiment.

"Kill them all!" Kitz yelled. Armin gulped as another voice boomed out.

"That won't be necessary." A bald man with a moustache said entering the area. The garrison all quickly saluted as they made way for their CO, Commander Dot Pyxis.

"Commander-" Kitz said in shock.

"Don't mind him youngins, he's more feeble than he looks." Pyxis said much to offense of Kitz. "Now care to explain what's going on?

**Sorry for the wait y'all, I was at Federal Law Enforcement Training and I tore my meniscus during training so I had a lot on my table. Chapter may be short but I just wanted to give you an update to know the story isn't dead.**

**Thanks for the views and leave some juicy reviews!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Wow this really happening huh?" Eren said to himself. After avoiding being killed due to the intervention of Commander Pyxis, a plan had been put forward to use Erens newfound Titan power to plug up the hole in Wall Rose. There had been significant protest to this mission but after an intense speech by the Garrison Commander, everyone gave in and were preparing to move out.

"You bet it is." A young Garrison elite trooper named Rico Brezsenka replied. "We've lost a lot of people today so you better not screw this up!"

"Yes ma'am." Eren feebly said. He had a lot going through his mind right now. First off, he could turn into a Titan, and then Mikasa, his adoptive _sister, _had full on kissed him on the lips. Not in a family friendly way that siblings normally did but a full on mouth to mouth kiss! He was in shock, he did love her but not in the way that kiss suggested. Did she really feel that way about him? It made sense now given how much she went out of her way to protect him and make sure he was okay. He hadn't had the chance to talk to her about it yet given there was a current Titan invasion going on. He would have to confront her about this after all this was done with. He couldn't deny she was very attractive but he viewed her too much as a sibling, he knew it would never work. He got distracted when he saw Gabriel come up from behind and pat him on the shoulder.

"R-ready b-buddy?" Gabriel asked. He, along with the Garrison Elite, were tasked with personally protecting Eren while he made his way to the boulder and to the gate. Eren smiles nervously as he prepared to jump down, he still didn't understand how this power worked, what if he didn't transform? What if he couldn't control his Titan form?

"_No time for doubts now! It's all or none!"_ He thought as he and his personal guard flew down to the ground. Once he was a safe enough distance away he raised his hand and prepared to bite down hoping it would work like last time. A bright light emerged with a resounding explosion as bone, muscle, and skin materialized out of nowhere. Gabriel looked intrigued seeing the display of magic create a large and muscular Titan out of nowhere. Erens Titan roared as its transformation came to a finish.

"All right Eren, go get the-" Rico tried to say as Eren suddenly lunged at her. Rico barely had time to move as Eren smashed his leg down on the house she was standing on. Gabriel looked in horror at seeing this, Eren wasn't in control!

"Uh oh!" He cried as he used his gear to fly over to Eren. "E-Eren! S-s-stop! I-it's m-me!" Gabriel yelled trying to get through to him. Eren's Titan merely glared at him. Gabriel gulped as Eren swung his massive arm towards him. Gabriel was fast but not fast enough as Erens finger smacked him in the leg. Gabriel yelled out in pain as the blunt force trauma smacked into him. Gabriel was swatted away like a fly as he hit the roof and continued to roll away still he stopped when he hit a chimney. Gabriel grunted as he felt his whole body flare up in pain. He couldn't believe his own brother had hurt him!

"_It wasn't him, he's not in control!" _Gabriel reassured himself as he slowly stood up to assess the damage. His leg hurt for sure but he wasn't sure how bad. He carefully put some of his weight on it and gradually increased the amount till he had all his body weight on the leg. While It did sting, he was able to put weight on it without too much pain. He could feel his entire body flare up from the blunt force trauma and winced as he tried to move forward. His dense boned and thick muscles had absorbed most of the impact. His slow movements quickly stopped as he looked up to see Mikasa now trying to reason with Eren.

"Uh oh!" He yelled as he shot off once again. Even he knew that if Eren had attacked him, he would do the same to Mikasa. Gabriel flew faster and faster as he saw Erens arm smash down on the roof Mikasa was standing on. Gabriel's heart went a million miles per hour, if he didn't get there in time Eren night kill her!

"_I know I have to fight back I might hurt him or kill him!" _Gabriel thought. He had no issue dispatching titans but this one was different from the others, it would definitely be more difficult but Gabriel was confident he could bring it down if things got too bad. "_Wait, as long as I don't cut the nape he should be fine right? Maybe I could cut off his leg and Eren will be fine._ Gabriel thought shocked at his own intelligence. His thought process stopped as he saw Mikasa's body flying through the air, a trail of blood following close behind. He went full speed to go grab her as Eren's rampage continued. He was relieved to see she quickly regained her bearing as she landed on Erens forehead. He could see her talking but couldn't make out what she was saying. Whatever she said clearly didn't work as Eren roared and brought his fist up with the intent to hit her and struck his own head which finally brought the rampaging beast down.

"M-Mik!" Gabriel cried as he landed next to her. He coughed several times as dust that had been lifted up from the falling Titan body infiltrated his lungs. He ran up to her and saw a bleeding wound next to her eye.

"I'm okay." She said sadly. Gabriel figured it was cause Eren had lost control which meant this plan was now a bust.

"What happened?" They turned to see Armin land a top a building with the garrison elite troopers who held looks of shock and disdain.

"Of course this wouldn't work!" Rico growled. She was not happy about this.

"B-b-but h-he d-d-didn't m-m-mean-" Gabriel tried to say.

"Shut up, he swatted you away like a fly and then almost squashed her." Rico said looking to Mikasa. "This plan is bust."

"What do we do now?" Armin asked. "We can't just leave Eren here."

"Shit, looks like we better figure it out!" A garrison soldier said getting into a fighting stance. Gabriel turned to see a large group of titans heading right towards them! Gabriel grunted, normally they could just fly away to safety but they couldn't leave Eren here out in the open. They would have to hold them off till Eren either exited his Titan form or regained consciousness.

"Oh no!" Armin yelped. Gabriel saw him leap down towards Eren's Titan and began talking to it. Gabriel couldn't hear what they were saying but he trusted Armin knew what he was doing.

"Ugh!" Rico said angrily. "Kill these titans! Defend Jaeger with your lives!" She personally didn't think Eren was worth it but she knew damn well this was their only possible chance at taking back Trost. Gabriel took a deep breath as he pressed the trigger. His eyes focused as he shot forward towards the first Titan. The 15 meter monstrosity reached out to grab the incoming meal. Gabriel retracted his hook at the last second before firing a burst of gas to fly underneath the titans armpit. He then fired the anchor and sliced the nape as if was warm butter. The Titan fell to the ground as Rico dispatched a ten meter.

"_That's not bad, most people take awhile to learn that trick. Maybe he really is as good as they say"_ She thought to herself. When she was introduced to Gabriel by Pyxis he had horribly butchered her last name calling her "Bazooka" while he waved to her instead of a proper greeting. She could tell immediately he was handicapped and wondered why the hell they allowed someone like that into the military, let alone a full on battle. Despite her skepticism, she had been assured by many that he was extremely lethal with ODM gear. She was eating her words now as she saw him slice titans to shreds. She caught a glimpse of his face as he killed his third Titan. He looked so concentrated when he was fighting, not the goofy oblivious look he normally had, no this was one of pure focus. He was doing maneuvers that took months of post academy training to master. She deduced that he could easily be assumed to be Captain Levi the way he killed titans, granted Gabriel had almost two whole feet on the Survey Corps best.

"Alright, that's the last of em!" Rico said as the group of titans that had approached were now all dead. She turned to Gabriel and walked up to him.

"Heimer." She said.

"Y-y-yes B-Buh-Bazooka?" Gabriel said struggling to say her last name.

"Brzersnka." Rico corrected. "Not bad, I'll admit you impressed me."

"T-thanks!" Gabriel said happily. There it was again, the common sense deprived smile.

"Just fix that damn stutter." Rico said quickly going back to her soldier mode. She was a no nonsense and strict person and had no qualms insulting others in order to get their act together. She knew that stutters could be fixed with the right access to therapists. She felt a thundering boom as the ground beneath her shook. Gabriel noticed this too and quickly scanned the surroundings. His jaw dropped when he saw the cause of the rumblings. He gasped as Eren's Titan was up again except this time he was following his orders. The Titan held the massive boulder over its head and was causing immense strain to the one holding it. Steam shot out from Eren's Titan as he slowly advanced towards the hole in the wall. Armin and Mikasa came out from behind him and landed in front of Gabriel.

"W-wow! Y-you d-did it!" Gabriel said hugging the two. He was so happy to see Eren back to normal.

"Holy-" Rico said adjusting her glasses. This was certainly a sight to behold. She quickly regained her bearing and turned to the soldiers. "This is it everyone! Defend Eren no matter what! Even with your lives!" She yelled. The soldiers roared as they shot off to kill any titans who would impede Erens path to victory. Gabriel and Mikasa together made short work of any one that got in their way. Armin could help but gasp at their power, they certainly were once in a lifetime display of talent. He had tried to take down a Titan himself after building up the courage but as soon as he could close in on one, Gabriel or Mikasa had already slain the beast. Eren's Titan trembled under the weight of this boulder. It was so heavy, the rock crushing into his neck and shoulders. Eren winced in pain as his unbeatable drive pushed him forward as his objective came closer and closer one agonizing foot step at a time. All around him he saw soldiers being killed and eaten in gruesome ways. Blood splattered the buildings and ground as severed limbs flung everywhere. Intestines and guts leaked out of Titans mouths. One unfortunate soul was slowly being eaten alive by a three meter Titan. She yelled as the titan pulled out her lung and liver before swallowing her intestines like spaghetti. Gabriel was this and went to help but was stopped by Rico.

"You have your job, so did she. There is nothing you can do for her now." Rico assured. Gabriel looked sadly to the girl. Her once pretty face now being shredded as the Titan stuck it's fingers into her mouth and eye socket and ripped her head in two. Her screams were quickly silenced as she disappeared entirely into the titans mouth. A sickening crunch and snapping of bones echoed as the Titan chewed the girl who was still barely alive. Gabriel felt himself get sick. He realized for the first time today he had seen someone die at the hands of a Titan. Such a horrible, painful, and disgusting way to die. Rico saw tears flying behind him as they rolled past his face. Part of her felt bad, he was still a cadet and hadn't experienced battle yet, even worse, he was so innocent, it must be awful for him. She had lost her friends, Ian and Mitabi only moments ago as they two were painfully eaten alive. She looked at Eren who continued to move forward.

"_I hope you see all this Jaeger. See how much we are sacrificing, don't you dare stop after so many died to keep you going!" _She thought. Eren was soon finally at the gate and let out a mighty roar and finally slammed the boulder into the ground officially blocking any more titans from entering. At first the atmosphere was quiet as Eren's Titan finally ran out of strength and collapsed to the ground unconscious. Gabriel, Armin, and Mikasa quickly went to Erens Titan body to help get him out as Rico finally fell to her knees.

"We did it, we beat them. Ian, Mitabi, everyone. Your sacrifice wasn't in vain." She said passionately now allowing the grief of their deaths to wash over her. She shakingly raised a flare gun and fried up green smoke into the air. A massive roar of cheers were heard erupting across the city. It had finally been done, for the first time in a century, humanity had beaten the titans.

**Xxx**

"Come on Eren!" Armin said as he struggled to pull his friends body out of the Titan. The muscle tissue held on tight as if refusing to let its host go. Gabriel went over to help as he gently grabbed Eren and pulled. His strength seemed to do the trick as the muscle tissue disconnected from Erens body finally. The Titan body began evaporating the moment Eren became disconnected as Mikasa quickly grabbed him and placed his head in her lap.

"So uh I didn't have the chance to ask." Armin said sheepishly.

"Yes?" Mikasa asked.

"What was that kiss about earlier?" Armin questioned. He always hoped Eren and Mikasa would wind up together, they seemed like a good couple.

"Oh well!" Mikasa said flushing red. So much had happened that even she forgot she had kissed him square on the lips.

"Uh oh!" Gabriel yelled. Armin and Mikasa turned to see two titans bearing down on them. Gabriel went to fire his anchors but in the blink of an eye they came crashing down dead. Gabriel shook his head in shock, he had never seen a Titan go down that fast before. He saw someone land on the titans evaporating body and narrowed his eyes to see better through the steam. He could make out the Wings of Freedom insignia on the cloak, Gabriel slowly smiled as he realized who it was.

"Huh." Levi said observing the boulder now covering the wall. He and the rest of the Survey Corps has arrived not too long ago. They hadn't made it far from the walls when they left earlier that day and they saw the Colossal Titan in the distance, it's massive figure making an easy spot even from miles away. They quickly turned around and rode with haste to help defend Trost. He had heard of a plan to seal the wall and saw a large boulder being carried earlier. He had been on the other side of the city during all this and had just made his way over here.

"S-S-SUPERMAN!" Levi's eyes widened. There was only one person in the Walls who'd be dumb enough to call him that. Levi turned and sure enough, there he was in all his idiotic glory.

"Ugh shit." Levi groaned. He knew the kid was a big fan of his and he hated being gloated by people. "So no salute huh brat? Guess you must outrank me then?" In times of old, saluting on the battlefield was forbidden in the worry the enemy would be able to make out who the officers were and eliminate them. Against titans however it made no difference since the hulking brutes didn't have the brains to know their head from their ass.

"Oh w-whoops!" Gabriel said standing at attention. Levi was about to praise him for actually following courtesy for once but stopped when he noticed Gabriel had his hand over his left side. Levi sighed, he knew no amount of yelling or drilling would work on this kid. "Regardless, there are still a lot of titans in the city that need dispatching, can you still fight?"

"Y-y-yes sir!" Gabriel replied happily. Was he gonna get to fight with Superman?

"Good." Levi said. "Hey you two!" He said to Armin and Mikasa. "Get that brat out of here and then link up to help get rid of the rest of the titans if you can still fight!" The two nodded as they took off with Eren in tow. Levi then turned back to Gabriel who could barely contain his excitement. "As for you, I see you have actually finished training. Let's see if you do as well against titans as you did with the dummies." Levi took off and Gabriel followed suit. Levi had held back in speed for fear Gabriel wouldn't keep up and get stuck fighting a group of titans by himself. He was shocked when he saw not only was Gabriel keeping up but he was actually going faster than Levi.

"_Hmm not bad." _Levi thought as he kicked into full gear.

"Woah!" Gabriel exclaimed seeing Levi take off full speed. Gabriel adjusted himself and used his gas in tandem with his anchors to keep up with Levi. The Scout turned to see Gabriel had fallen behind him now but not too far behind.

"_At my full speed you can't keep up, but you are still somewhat matching me." _Levi observed. Perhaps this kid was good after all. Levi wanted to see him in action killing a titan. His wish was granted when a yellow smoke flare was shot up not too far from them.

"_Perfect"_ He thought. "Hey Cadet! A distress signal, we are moving in to help!"

"Y-yes s-sir!" Gabriel replied as he got his game face on. The two arrived to see a scout avoiding a group of seven titans. A situation all but the very best would find difficult to escape. Levi reversed his swords grip and shot into the first one like a buzz saw killing it in seconds. He didn't hesitate to move onto the next three and slaughtered them in one solid movement so quick it was as if the Titans dropped dead out of nowhere. He then scanned the area for the the other three but saw two were already dead and the third one was missing both legs and an arm. He raised his eyebrows as Gabriel swung up the remaining limb and sliced the nape with perfect precision.

"_Did he do all that?_" Levi thought. He was in shock, a rare thing for him. For a cadet to kill three titans that quickly, it was unheard of. How the hell was he so good with the gear this fresh out of training?

"Sorry Captain." A short woman said slowly getting up. Gabriel came down from the building top he was on and stood next to Levi, the difference in their height would be comical to many. "I got caught off guard, it won't happen again." She finally looked up to see Gabriel standing next to Levi. "And thank you so much, Cadet?"

"W-wow y-you're r-r-really p-p-pretty." Gabriel said taken aback by the woman's beauty. She gasped and blushed at the compliment. Levi saw this and intervened.

"Petra this is Cadet Gabriel Heimer." Levi said before leaving in to her ear. "He's slow, don't take anything he says seriously." He whispered. Petra nodded and looked back to Gabriel with a smile on her face. "Thank you cadet, you are very handsome yourself."

"Oh uh-" Gabriel said looking away and burning red. No one had ever called him handsome before. Petra giggled at his reaction, he was very adorable.

"Enough." Levi scorned. "We have work to do."

"Yes sir!" Petra said as the trio took off to kill the rest of the titans. Petras jaw dropped when she saw Gabriel drop titans left and right. If he kept this up he might beat her Titan kill record. Gabriel had met up with other members of Levi's squad along the way. Oluo Bozzado whom he found to be mean. Oluo had been cornered after his gear malfunctioned due to a worn out gear which resulted in only being able to fire one anchor which left him vulnerable. After Gabriel had swooped in to help, Oluo promptly told him not to think he was that great just because Levi scooped him up on the way over before accidentally biting his tongue. He quickly ate his words once he was Gabriel's skill with ODM. Gunther Schultz and Eld Jinn as well required help as well much to Levi's annoyance. The squad went through the motions killing titans before retreating to the wall to refill gas and blades.

"What is with your shitty performance today?" Levi asked as his gas tank filled up. Needing help he could understand but for all four of his squad members who were the best humanity had to offer being stuck due to amateur mistakes drove him insane. "Normally you all are at the top of your game."

"Sorry sir." Eld apologized. Being second in command he often spoke for the rest of the squad.

"I wasn't asking for an apology." Levi replied. "I picked you all for the reason you don't make the mistakes that cost people their lives. Even this kid isn't screwing up as badly as you." All eyes turned to Gabriel who seemed more interested in playing with the gas tube pretending it was a snake.

"Roar!" Gabriel said twisting the tube around his arm.

"Um." Gunther said not exactly sure how to respond to that.

"Well cadet, aren't you going to introduce yourself or are you going to stick the hose up your ass to get high?" Levi said without taking his eyes off his gas canister.

"Wait! CADET?" Eld said in shock. He had seen Gabriel in action and had figured he must have been an elite Garrison trooper since Eld knew he was not in the Scouts.

"Did I stutter?" Levi asked deadpanned. The only one who knew he was a cadet had been Petra who sat quietly upset that she let her captain down.

"No way." Oluo said. This kid could not be a cadet, there was no way. Oluo would never admit it out loud but this kid was actually pretty good.

"With respect sir." Gunther said walking up. "I don't see how someone fresh out of training could have such skill. Maybe it's an error on his uniform?"

"You think I'm an idiot?" Levi replied standing up to his full height which wasn't much. "I was there two years ago at this brats ODM training. He finished the Solo course in 4 minutes."

"F-f-f-four minutes?!" Oluo cried. That was even better than his record of 4:03! No way he was getting outdone by a kid. "But look at him! Kids retarded!" Gabriel's happy face quickly turned to one of sadness at the word that had been thrown at him. That word that reminded him of his abusive father who blamed him for his mother's death.

"I-I-I'm n-not r-r-retarded!" Gabriel said sadly, he shut his eyes as very small tears rolled out the side. Petra angrily smacked Oluo right across the face.

"How dare you say that to him!?" Petra asked fuming. How could he be so cruel to such a nice boy?

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Gunther asked angrily.

"Wait is he actually?" Oluo asked. No one had mentioned to Oluo Gabriel's mental condition. He had assumed Gabriel was just acting like an ass to piss everyone off "Oh shit….."

"Save it." Levi said standing up. "We are going back down, there's only a few more titans left. Oluo stop being an asshole and the rest of you get your gear ready.

"Yes sir!" They all said. Oluo looked at Gabriel who rubbed a tear away. Oluo felt genuine guilt wash over him and wanted to say sorry but it would have to wait till their job was done. Gabriel sniffled as he pulled out his swords when a gentle hand caressed his shoulder.

"You okay?" Petra asked sweetly.

"Y-yeah, I-I j-j-just d-don't l-l-like t-t-that w-word." Gabriel sighed.

"I know, it's an awful word." Petra said. "Oluo didn't mean it, his lips move before his brain thinks a lot of times."

"Hehehe." Gabriel laughed lightly at the comment. Petra was glad to see him feel a little better.

"I want to hear all about you when we finish here okay?" Petra said giving him more praise to feel better. "Let's bag the rest of these titans!"

"Yeah!" Gabriel said as he followed the Levi squad back down to the city.

**Damn this is gonna take a while to get to the part I'm especially excited to write lol.**

**Read and leave juicy reviews!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

After two hours, all titans were finally cleared from Trost. It had certainly been a roller coaster ride for those involved. A hopeless situation turned into humanity's first victory against the Titans. The morale boost would be incredible, it made the concept of retaking Wall Maria that much more appealing. It would surely boost Scout Regiment funds and encourage more to join.

These were the thoughts of Commander Erwin who continued to read through battle reports. Despite not arriving till the waning moments of the conflict, the Scouts certainly has seen enough to know mankind had an ace up their sleeve now.

"Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, and Gabriel Heimer." Erwin said to himself. Mikasa and Gabriel's skill in ODM gear was rivaled only by Levi. He couldn't imagine the possibilities having three Levi's. The titans wouldn't even be able to approach the scouts if that was the case. Even better? A cadet who could turn into a Titan. Now that was something worth more than anything else in Irwin's eyes. If Eren could learn to control it better combined with Levi, Mikasa, and Gabriel's skill the titans would get mowed down like nothing. Unfortunately both Eren and Gabriel had been locked up in prison. Eren due to the threat his titan power posed, and Gabriel due to assaulting an officer. Eren was more in danger due to the possibility of being killed whereas Gabriel at most faced 30 days in the cell with a reduction in pay for another 90. He had been pleased to hear that both expressed their desire to join the Scout Regiment. Now all he needed was their release so he could finally carry out his goal in all the years he had commanded the Survey Corps, retaking Wall Maria. He was less concerned about Gabriel. Since he was the commander of the branch Gabriel wanted to join then Erwin could carry out his punishment as he saw fit meaning he could get Gabriel some more training. Eren on the other hand, it was up the Chief of all military operations Darius Zackly, who would decide his fate. Erwin stood in the courtroom with many others including the prosecution, numerous witnesses, and civilians acting as jury. Gabriel frowned, he wanted to scratch his nose but he was in handcuffs which were tied behind his back due to his offense. He hadn't been paying much attention, all this law stuff was confusing to him till he heard his name called out.

"Cadet Heimer!" Zackly loudly called. Gabriel had been so unfocused he was caught completely off guard.

"Y-yes?!" Gabriel replied nervously.

"You were present at Eren Jaeger's side when he turned into a Titan correct?" Zackly asked.

"Y-yes sir!" Gabriel replied. He was scared of Zackly, someone in Zackleys position could easily have him kicked out if he messed up too much.

"Witnesses say Eren Jaeger lost control and tried to kill you by punching you. You dodged and were swatted across a rooftop where you were hurt right?" Zackly asked. Eren felt guilt build up in him, first he found out he had attacked Mikasa, but now Gabriel too?

"Oh um w-w-well-" Gabriel said nervously. He couldn't lie but also didn't want Eren to get in trouble. Levi sighed, this kid was one hundred percent going to fuck this all up. "I-it w-was m-more o-of a-a-a s-small p-push-"

"Cadet Heimer, other witnesses say you went flying across the rooftops and that had you been any closer to that hit you would be dead. Do not try to downplay this situation!" Zackly loudly said. "Now I'll ask again, did he or did he not attack you?"

"Um-" Gabriel stuttered. This was bad, all eyes were on him. He looked to Mikasa and Armin for help but they couldn't do anything but watch.

"Cadet Heimer, the question was simple." Zackly said. "If you do not answer you will be charged with perjury understood?"

"Um w-what d-does t-t-that m-mean?" Gabriel asked. Zackly sighed.

"Sir may I inquire?" Commander Erwin said finally speaking up.

"Yes Commander." Zackly replied.

"Cadet Heimer is a very good soldier, his skill with ODM gear is rivaled only by Captain Levi. That being said, Cadet Heimer also suffers from mental handicaps and may not be able to give an accurate testimony." Erwin said. Gabriel felt hurt by the mental handicaps comment but knew Erwin was trying to help him.

"Is that right?" Zackly asked. "Care to tell why someone with a handicap like that was allowed to join the cadet corps and let alone be in battle?"

"Sir I do not know the circumstances of his enlistment. What I do know is he was picked by Captain Levi to assist him during the battle for Trost. That alone should speak for itself." Erwin concluded.

"Very well, we will deliberate Cadet Heimer here at a later time. If what you say is true Commander than Heimer is no longer needed as a witness. Please escort him out of here."

"Come on Cadet." An MP armed with a rifle said as he grabbed Gabriel from behind and shoved him towards the door. Gabriel looked back at Eren hoping he would be okay. Gabriel wanted to help him but knew there was nothing he could do. Gabriel sadly looked away as he continued to walk out of the courtroom back to his cell. He could hear all sorts of law stuff he didn't understand. He and his escort turned their heads when they heard Eren yelling.

"YOU DAMN COWARDS! YOUVE NEVER EVEN SEEN A TITAN! IF YOU WANT TO STAY HERE AND DO NOTHING FINE! JUST PUT ALL YOUR HOPE IN ME!" Eren roared. Gabriel was confused but saw out of the corner of his eye an MP raised his rifle at Eren with the intent to shoot. Gabriel yelled and tried to run over but was beaten when Levi approached. He let out a breath, he knew if Superman was there then they wouldn't shoot Eren. He cried out when he saw Levi kick Eren full force in the face which sent a spray of blood and a tooth flying out the side.

"Huh?" Eren said looking up to see Levi staring down at him. That kick had freaking hurt!

"You personally, nothing instills discipline like pain. You don't need a talking to, what you're in need of boy is to be taught a lesson, and you just so happen to be at perfect kicking height." Levi said as he released another onslaught of kicks to Eren's face. Gabriel watched this and felt rage built up seeing his brother get beat. It reminded him of when Sasha was attacked, it ignited a rage deep inside of him. He could see Armin struggling to hold back Mikasa who had a murderous look in her eyes. Gabriel was torn between his love for his brother and is admiration of Levi. He felt internal conflict boil over him as his arms trembled.

"What do you think you're doing huh?" The MP asked noting Gabriel's trembling body. Gabriel couldn't stand anymore as Eren was beaten to a pulp. He yelled as he ripped free of his restraints and began to dart towards Levi.

"HEY GET BACK HERE OR I'LL SHOOT!" His escort yelled aiming the rifle right at Gabriel's back. Levi looked up to see Heimer running right up to him. He scoffed as he took his foot off Eren's face who continued to cough out blood and tooth flecks.

"NO DONT!" Armin cried out. He could do nothing as Mikasa nearly tore his arms out of their sockets to get to Eren.

"It would seem Eren isn't the only brat here who needs a lesson." Levi said as Gabriel charged him. Gabriel raised his fist and prepared to punch Levi but the scout moved too quick to the side and delivered a powerful kick to Gabriel's stomach. The boy hit the ground hard as he gasped for breath, that kick had been pinpointed exactly in his chest to knock the wind out of him. Gabriel didn't have time to get up as Levi spun around kicking Gabriel in the face many more times. The boy fell back clutching his stomach and head as the crowd could only watch in horror. The cadet who had overpowered a Titan in hand to hand combat had been laid out by Levi, the room was once again reminded just why he bore his title of Humanity's Strongest.

"I think we've all seen enough." Levi said as the two cadets lie on the ground wheezing and coughing. "They say Jaeger was able to kill twenty titans before he finally ran out of strength, his intelligence makes him all the more deadly, but I can still take him down without a problem, how about you all? Can you actually stop him?"

"Sir I have a proposition." Erwin said raising his hand. "Allow the Survey Corps to take in Eren under Levi's watch, he will keep him in line if he loses control."

"I trust the Captains skill to restrain the beast should it come to it. I have made my decision, Eren Jaeger, you will be taken into custody of Survey Corps and depending on how you perform on the Expedition, you will either be trusted or killed am I clear?" Zackly stated much to the dismay of the prosecution. Eren weakly smiled knowing he wasn't going to get killed but pain quickly overcame him again as he just lowered his head. Zackly then turned to Gabriel who had been restrained by two MPs. "Now then Cadet Heimer, you have already assaulted an officer once and were in prison for it and now you have done it again, this time in a courtroom nonetheless, what shall we do with you?"

"He would have to make contact for it to be assault, brat never laid a finger on me." Levi stated. Technically Gabriel never even hit him.

"Sir, Cadet Heimer wishes to join the Scouts, as his commanding officer I will see his punishment carried out justly." Erwin said again.

"And if he assaults an officer again?" Zackly asked. "It might be you next time Commander."

"Heh I don't the brats gonna be doing that again." Levi said walking up to Gabriel and grabbing him by the hair to pull his face up. Two black eyes spotted around his eyes as blood continued to flow out his mouth and nose. "Of course if he does I'll give him a more thorough and brutal lesson in self restraint."

"Very well, these two are hereby released. I trust you to carry out the remainder of Cadet Heimer punishment. This court is dismissed!" Zackly said.

**Xxx**

"Owie!" Gabriel winced as Petra gently applied a piece of ice to his bruised face.

"I know it hurts but it's nothing serious." Petra said. She understood why Levi did what he did but still, he could have at least held back a tiny bit.

"You shouldn't have run out there." Eren said to Gabriel. "I know you were looking out for me but you could have gotten shot."

"I-I-I k-know." Gabriel said looking down. "I-is S-Superman m-mad at m-me?"

"If you continue to call me that and not my official title I will be." Levi said as he sat himself down between Eren and Gabriel, the both of them tensed up and slightly shuffled away from him out of fear. "You two understand why I did that right?"

"Y-yeah." Eren said. "I was gonna get shot if you hadn't stepped in."

"Good to know, how about you Heimer?" Levi asked without turning his head.

"U-um I uh-" Gabriel said trying to think. Petra could tell Gabriel hadn't figured out yet why Levi beat them.

"He did it to show everyone that in the event Eren loses control, Levi would be able to contain him. He showed it by hitting him, he saved his life. Do you understand?" Petra asked rubbing dried blood off his cheek.

"Oooooohhhhh n-now I-I-I g-get it!" Gabriel said as everything came together. Petra smiled at his reaction. "S-s-so y-you a-aren't a-a b-b-bully?"

"Correct, that's why I held back a little." Levi nonchalantly stated. Internally he felt grateful these two did not hate him for what he did.

"_This was holding back? Jeez Levi!" _Petra thought as she finished cleaning Gabriel's face. Eren had mostly regenerated due to his Titan power and didn't require medical attention so she focused all on Gabriel. Levi felt arms wrap around him and his first instinct was to kill whoever dared to lay their hands on him. His eyes widened from the contact as he turned to see Gabriel was _hugging _him!

"I-I'm s-s-sorry I-I t-tried t-t-to h-hurt y-y-you!" Gabriel apologized. Levi was clenching his teeth as Petra and Eren could only look in horror. Levi was a very isolated person, he did not partake in physical contact unless it involved his fist going into someone's face. Levi wanted so badly to rip out of this embrace and resume the beating he gave earlier. Levi then just sighed knowing Heimer might as well be a three year old child, a very strong and large three year old child. Had this been anyone else they would be missing teeth but he decided just this one time to make an exception.

"It's fine, just do me one favor and let go of me now and we will call it even." Levi said without emotion. Gabriel slowly retreated as Petra silently thanked the Walls Levi hadn't snapped his neck. The last time someone had tried doing something like to him was a few years back when Levi was at a bar and a drunken man came over to him and grabbed him to pull him into a group dance. It didn't end well, simply put, it wasn't the alcohol that made that man pass out that night. She then could see ever the most faint twinge of a smile on his lip. Despite Levi's obvious irritation of Gabriel, he did respect the boy for his strength and skill. Maybe he could be the one to break Levi's shell that he had thrown up and were as unbreakable as the Walls.

"I'm glad to see you two don't hold resentment." Everyone turned to see Commander Erwin walk in and he say across from Eren and Gabriel. "I appreciate your willingness to give your hearts. Now to discuss your future."

**Xxx**

"R-r-really?" Gabriel asked as Erwin finished explaining to him. Beside Erwin stood a tall woman with glasses and a mess of brown hair pulled back along with a very tall man who had sniffed him as soon as he walked in earning him the nickname 'Doggie' by Gabriel.

"Yes, your punishment is up to me and I figure this is a good way to appease the higher ups and get you some field experience." Erwin stated. There was a mess of titans surrounding the now blocked off gate to Trost that were still attracted to the smell of human flesh. Normally the garrison would get rid of them with Cannons but the Colossal Titan has destroyed all cannons that were positioned above the gate. As such, the Scout Regiment was being dispatched to deal with it. Gabriel would be joining with the Scouts on this endeavor as part of his punishment. "Hanje, given how this was your idea, I am placing you responsible for him. He is good but he is still green and needs someone watching his back."

"You got it!" The woman known as Hange said as she walked over to Gabriel and smacked his back. "Just stick with me and we can captur- I mean, kill some titans!"

"Hange I heard that, we do not have the manpower to capture a Titan, plus you already have the two from Trost." Erwin said referring to the two titans that had been captured. Since the city was sealed off and they were the only two titans remaining, capturing them had been relatively easy. "The Section Commander is one of our best, she has been with us for many years which pays testimony to her skill, she will keep an eye out for you." Erwin said. He did have a point, over sixty percent of scouts were dead in the first five years, anyone who had survived longer than that were either impossibly lucky or extremely skilled. Gabriel was excited and also nervous, now that he had faced titans and seen what they did to people he wasn't as cocky as he used to be.

"This operation will carry out tomorrow." Erwin said standing up. "Welcome to the Scout Regiment Gabriel, I look forward to seeing you in action again." Erwin held out his hand as Gabriel grabbed and shook it. "The uniforms aren't ready yet, you'll need a new jacket with our insignia and cloak and given your large figure, you will need measurements taken. Head to the tailor after this and we will try to get it ready for you by tomorrow. Report back here at 0800."

"Y-yes s-sir!" Gabriel said as he saluted and walked out.

"Is he as good as they say?" The sniffing man asked his commander.

"Yes Mike, I didn't see him in action myself but Levi tells me he was as good as his Special Operations Squad, his kill count at the battle was 28 titans of all various sizes." Erwin said as Hange and Mike both looked at him in shock. "Those were just his solo kills, if we factor in assists the number may be over 50."

"50 titans in one day?" Mike said flabbergasted. That means only himself, Levi, and his squad had higher Titan kills, the rest of the Survey Corps averaged 10-15 kills. "If he keeps this up-"

"He May surpass even Levi." Hange finished. Her giddiness and excitement boiled over. "With his help think of all we could learn about the titans!"

"Of course the issue of his mental status may be an issue." Mike pondered. "Honestly I can't believe he wasn't killed immediately with his condition."

"He's a savant Mike, he may struggle in everyday activities but this one skill, his mind and body have mastered it at a level never seen before. I met him two years ago when he was still training and even then he stood out from his peers. There is something odd about the boy though that does trouble me." Erwin said.

"What would that be?" Hange asked.

"I remember this vividly, two years ago when I asked why he wanted to join the scouts, he said it was because the Armored Titan has directly killed his family." Erwin said.

"That is sad for him but a lot of people lost their families that day, what makes him different?" Mike asked.

"The Armored Titan had thrown rubble which crushed his uncle and then stomped and killed his aunt when he was running through the gate, Gabriel was only eleven years old and was looking the Titan right in the face. When the Armored Titan was mentioned, Gabriel suddenly became very angry, his stutter went away, and he seemed to be very focused and intelligent, almost like he becomes a different person."

"Like when he rushed Levi in court." Hange noted.

"Those weren't the only times, he also assaulted Captain Woermann when he fired a cannon at his fellow cadets, he also according to reports, was so focused on waiting for the Armored Titan to show after the Wall was destroyed he was almost grabbed by a Titan that he had not even noticed got close. And the last, most serious one was earlier this year. A cadet he is very close to, Sasha Braus, was ambushed in an alley and beaten to a pulp, reports say that he went berserk and beat the man within an inch of his life and had even bitten one of the man's fingers off." Erwin explained. This deeply upset Mike and Hange who didn't think a boy as sweet as Gabriel was capable of such things.

"Split personality disorder maybe?" Mike suggested. He had heard of people who endured something traumatic and as a way to cope, creates two personalities to help forget what happened."

"No, split personality hiccups come randomly, it seems seeing someone he cares about being attacked or mentioning the Armored Titan are triggers, almost like something is escaping and taking hold." Hange explained.

"His life has not been a good one." Erwin explained. "I read through his paperwork and it appears his mother died at childbirth, his father was abusive and blamed Gabriel for his wife's death. He had been pulled from schools due to bullying over his speech impediment and was there when Shiganshina fell and watched his aunt and uncle die." Hange felt bad for the boy, life was rough all around for everyone but fate had been especially cruel to Gabriel it seemed. "The issue I have with this is that if this were to happen in battle, he may get himself and others killed."

"He seemed to be okay during Trost, no reports indicated he went Berserk until he was off the battlefield." Mike chipped in.

"That's one of the reasons I want him on the operation tomorrow. He needs to learn restraint, I need to know if he can carry out his mission without giving into rage." Erwin said. "If he cant do that, then I'm afraid we can not use him."

"It would be a waste with his talent." Mike said. "How exactly do you plan to get him to restrain himself?"

"Practice, Gabriel has the mind of a five year old, children are easily emotional, it takes years to learn to control their emotions through everyday experiences, that was something Gabriel did not have growing up." Erwin said. "We will see how he does tomorrow, you two are dismissed.

"Yes sir!" Hange and Mike said as they exited and went on their way.

**Xxx**

Gabriel had made his way to the Trost garrison base where the 104th cadet corps was waiting till graduation in two days. The city had been disposed of corpses and debris and people were slowly making their way back in. He had been very lonely and wanted to see his friends again. He entered the building where he saw Christa, Ymir, Reiner, and Bertholdt talking.

"Oh hey there he is!" Reiner said happily upon seeing Gabriel. Christa turned and ran up to him and gave him a hug. Gabriel liked getting hugs from her but saw Ymir shoot him a death stare. Bertholdt also came up and gave him a hug noting how happy he was to see him back.

"No way! You're going on an expedition with them?" Reiner asked.

"N-not r-really." Gabriel said as he explained the details of the mission tomorrow. "J-j-just g-getting r-rid o-of t-t-titans."

"Huh you know they're just using you right? Not even an official scout yet and here they are using you as extra muscle." Ymir said insultingly.

"T-that's n-not t-t-true!" Gabriel frantically said. "T-they s-s-said I-I-I w-was g-good!"

"Ymir do you really have to be such a bitch?" Reiner asked. "I think it's awesome that they recognize how good he is and that he gets to go with them."

"Yeah Gabriel you were so brave during Trost, I would have been eaten if you hadn't saved me!" Christa said smiling.

"See? He saved the one person you're not a bitch to, that must count for something." Reiner said again. Reiner and Ymir had developed a rivalry over who can win over Christa, both had extremely strong crushes on her.

"Oh whatever!" Ymir said. "Let's get out of here Christa." She said grabbing the petite blonde and dragging her way while giving Reiner a stare that read _She's mine._

"How are you doing otherwise? Where did all these bruises come from?" Bertholdt asked noting the two black eyes Gabriel was sporting. He assumed they were from the battle a few days ago at first but they looked too fresh to be from that long ago.

"Oh um-" Gabriel said. He explained what happened at the trial and what Levi had done to save Erens life.

"You fought Levi? And _lost?!"_ Reiner said in shock. Gabriel was unstoppable with his strength, he couldn't even imagine what Levi was like if he could beat Gabriel like that.

"Well looks his reputation is more than just talk." Bertholdt gulped. Levi was terrifying indeed.

"I-I-it w-was p-p-pretty s-scary." Gabriel confessed. "Where I-is e-everyone e-else?" He knew Eren was being kept at the Scout Regiments old headquarters but he was curious about the others.

"Well Mikasa and Armin are out in town, they should be getting back soon. Connie is in his room debating which regiment to join, Annie is as usual standing in a corner by herself. Sasha is already at the table waiting for lunch, she'll be really excited to you. And Jean-" Reiner paused.

"R-Reiner?" Gabriel asked. He noted both him and Bertholdt were shaking ever so slightly.

"Look um." Reiner said not wanting to be the bearer of such news. "Marco didn't make it, we found his body the other day, Jean is still really shaken up about it." Gabriel's eyes quickly lowered into sadness. Marco was always nice to him and was Jeans closest friend at training. He always talked about how honored he would be to give his life to serve the Kings side. He would have been one of the few MPs who were actually good and not corrupt.

"D-does h-he n-need a h-hug?" Gabriel asked. Reiner slightly smiled, Gabriel was just about the purest person he had ever met in his life. "You know how Jean can get, he needs time to mourn and be alone. Grumpy people usually don't like hugs much."

"B-but I h-hugged s-s-Superman a-and h-he's g-grumpy." Gabriel said. They both knew of Gabriel's nickname for Levi.

"You WHAT?!" Bertholdt cried in shock

"AND LIVED?" Reiner continued.

**Trying to incorporate elements from the game including convos and events. Let me know what you think.**

**R&R**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Warning! Fluffy mushy shit in this chapter. I had to punch a wall to regain my manliness after all the cute shit I wrote in this.**

Sasha say diligently for lunch. She was currently the only one in the entire mess hall and was growing impatient.

"Ugh why do we have to have a set time for food?" She moaned as she flopped over the table. The promise of a large graduation feast on graduation day which was only two days away is what kept her going. There was even word that they might serve actual juicy meat! She thought back to the battle earlier this week. She tried not to think about it but it kept creeping up on her. She was glad to be alive, a lot of people weren't so lucky. She was going to miss Mina terribly, the two had gotten along well and would do each other's hair in the morning. She sniffles a small tear as she fondly thought back to their time together, she just hoped her death had been quick but given how it was a smaller Titan that ate her, she knew that wasn't the case. She hadn't killed any titans but had cut a few throughout the battle. She had been with Connie most of the time and he was a good friend of hers but she was missing the resident giant. She hadn't seen Gabriel in action but everyone was quick to tell her how he mercilessly shredded the titans to pieces and that he was so good Captain Levi had him assist him. She wasn't shocked though, she knew he was very good at ODM gear. She often wondered how he had not made it to the top ten, he was easily better than all of them except maybe Mikasa. She then figured it was due to academics. He had just barely made the grades to finish and that was solely because Armin took the time to Tudor him. Thinking about him helped her forget the pain in her heart. She had been worried about him, he had been in prison for attacking an officer who tried to kill Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. He really did love those three with all his heart. She still owed him for saving her life that one day all those months ago. She doubted she'd ever get to return the favor and save his life since any Titan that approached him was basically already dead. She was glad he had so many people looking out for him, aside from his adopted family, Reiner and Bertholdt were his closest friends, Reiner especially seemed to genuinely enjoy Gabriel's company and they were often seen laughing and hanging around together. Even Annie had grown fond of him, he was the only one that she'd be seen talking to. She wondered where she fell on the list, she knew he liked being around her but she wondered if he felt any feelings for her. Sasha admitted she felt happy being around him, all the times they've had hunting together and talking about each other's past were some of her favorite memories. His innocent view of the world made it seem like there were no titans ready to devour them at a moments notice. She found herself smiling when thinking of his goofy and cute behavior when she heard the door open. She quickly sat up hoping it was the chef saying lunch was ready but saw something better.

"S-Sasha! H-hi!" He said waving to her. She quickly ran off her chair to him and jumped into his arms for a hug. She held on tight as Gabriel lifted her off the ground.

"I was so worried about you!" Sasha said holding on to him even tighter. He could have gone to prison for years or worse sentenced to death.

"I-I'm o-o-okay!" Gabriel said gently setting her down. "I-I'm n-n-not g-going a-a-anywhere!"

"What happened?" Sasha asked raising her hand to Gabriel's face which she could barely see due to his height. She saw two black eyes and an assortment of various bruises and marks.

"W-well-" Gabriel said as he told her the events of the trials. Sasha gasped when she heard about Levi's assault.

"You actually fought _him?_" She said. Levi was horrifying, if the titans could feel fear than they never approach the walls with Levi there.

"W-well y-yeah b-but I-I-I l-lost s-so it w-wasn't r-really a f-fight." Gabriel explained. His vocabulary and grammar had improved over the years and was able to form more colorful sentences.

"Still though, Levi is so scary." Sasha said. She saw Levi when he arrived at Trost and saw Humanity's Strongest first hand in all his lethal glory. Gabriel then told her about his first mission tomorrow.

"You're actually going back to fight them again?" She asked sadly.

"Y-yeah." Gabriel responded.

"Even after seeing how awful they are, what they do to people, you still want to face them?" Sasha asked. She knew he had seen the titans in Shiganshina but he didn't fight them back then.

"I-I w-want t-then t-t-to g-go a-away." Gabriel explained. "I-I-I j-just w-want e-everyone t-t-to b-be h-happy" He really just wanted a world of peace. He didn't care for riches, sex, and other materialistic needs.

"I wish I was as brave as you." Sasha admitted shamefully. "I don't know if I can fight them again, I'm not strong like you are."

"B-but y-you m-made it t-t-to t-the t-top t-ten." Gabriel said. He didn't like seeing her so sad.

"Yeah that's why I might choose the Military Police." Sasha said. "I only joined the military for the guarantee of three meals a day." She wasn't like Gabriel, Reiner, and Eren who genuinely wanted to free mankind from its cage. "I must sound so cowardly right now huh?"

"Y-you're n-not a c-coward." Gabriel assured her. How could she call herself a coward after she fought titans? "Y-you f-fought t-the t-titans r-right? T-that m-makes y-y-you b-brave."

"Yeah I guess you're right." Sasha said feeling a little better. She did go into battle against the titans when many would have ran the other way. "Maybe I am selling myself short a bit." The bell suddenly rang signaling it was time for lunch. Sasha happily stood up as cadets began to file in. Gabriel noted there wasn't that many cadets, some may have gone off base for lunch. He and Sasha went to go get their food which consisted of bread, assorted vegetables, an apple, a steamed potato, and black beans for protein. Meat was a luxury only high ranking officers could afford. The two went back to the table and Gabriel ate slowly as Sasha devoured her food like a ravenous beast. Gabriel chuckled when she raised her head back up and saw she had made a horrible mess on her shirt. The two finished eating as they sat and talked some more.

"Oh I almost forgot!" Sasha said digging through her pockets. "I got something for you!"

"F-for me?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, you saved me and then bought me meat, I wanted to do something for you too." She said as she found what she was looking for. She pulled it out and handed it to Gabriel. "Armin mentioned that you like to draw."

"W-what is I-it?" Gabriel asked taking the gift.

"It's a journal, it's full of blank pages. You can write down your thoughts or draw something in it. I know it's nothing fancy but I thought you might like it." She said blushing. Gabriel flopped through the pages and looked at the cover. It had his full name embroidered on the cover with the Scout Regiment Insignia.

"W-wow!" Gabriel said excitedly. "T-t-thank y-you!"

"You like it?" Sasha asked.

"Y-yeah! I-I'm g-gonna d-draw so m-much!" Gabriel said like a child on Christmas. "I-I'm g-gonna d-draw r-right n-now!"

"I'm so happy you like it, what're you gonna draw?" Sasha asked. She was happy she could make him smile.

"Ummm-" Gabriel pondered. He then got an idea and looked back her. "H-how a-about y-you?"

"Me?!" Sasha asked confused. Why would he want to draw her?

"C-cause Y-you're r-really p-pretty." Gabriel said nonchalantly. Sasha gasped as her face heated up.

"You think I'm, pretty?" She asked again. She knew she wasn't ugly by any means but most guys were disgusted by the way she wolfed food down her mouth. She hadn't been called pretty since she was a little girl.

"Mm-hmm." Gabriel nodded. Sasha was so taken aback by the comment. She suddenly became self conscious of her appearance. Was her hair brushed neatly? Was there any food stuck in her teeth? Was she fat?

"H-Hold s-s-still." Gabriel said as he began to draw. Sasha obliged as she smiled for the drawing. Every now and then Gabriel would look up to her so he knew what to draw and she could feel the force of his concentration burn through her. His eyes were really beautiful, a bright blue color like a sunny sky. After thirty minutes, Sasha felt the need to move but Gabriel was working so hard she didn't want to ruin it for him. After ten more minutes he finally put the pen down.

"A-all d-done!" He said. Sasha finally let herself relax as she stretched the muscles she had kept frozen. Gabriel showed her the drawing and Sasha nearly choked. The drawing in all honesty was fucking horrific, scribbles all over with random splotches of ink everywhere.

"Wow that's really good!" Sasha said. She didn't want to hurt his feelings after he worked so hard on it. "Are those my eyes?" She asked pointing to two misshapen dots on what she assumed to be the head.

"N-nope, t-t-thats y-your t-toes!" Gabriel said.

"_But you were just drawing my face? How did my toes even come into this?_" She thought. Gabriel then ripped out the page and handed the drawing to her.

"H-here, I-it's f-for y-you!" He said smiling. Sasha looked down at his 'masterpiece'

"But you worked really hard on that, are you sure?" Sasha asked taking it.

"Y-yep!" He said. Sasha smiles at him and placed the drawing in her breast pocket. She would always carry this on her. Whenever she'd be scared, she'd look at it for strength. It really was a priceless gift for her.

**Xxx**

The two spent the rest of the day together. Sasha wanted to spend as much time with him as possible before his mission tomorrow, just in case the unspeakable happened. They had walked all over Trost and saw the sun was starting to set. Gabriel had insisted they watch the sunset on the walls but their gear was locked away. As such they resorted to taking the one staircase that led to the top.

"Whew, that's a lot of stairs!" Sasha said out of breath. Even with her excellent cardio shape these stairs still winded her.

"C-come on!" Gabriel said playfully taking her hand and running to the spot. Sasha was nervous about running on the top without their gear. There were no railings up here meaning if you weren't careful you'd plummet to instant death. They finally reached the spot Gabriel wanted to and they sat down watching the sun continue to lower.

"It is really nice up here." Sasha said relishing in the evening breeze that blew through her hair. She made the mistake of looking down and saw a dozen titans reaching up in a fruitless effort to grab them. Their disgusting mouths reminding her of what lie in wait outside the walls.

"EEEP!" She squealed as she grabbed onto Gabriel's arm. Gabriel turned to look at her.

"A-are y-you o-okay?" He asked.

"Y-yeah, just the titans down there scared me." Sasha said before realizing she was still holding onto his arm. She quickly let go in embarrassment but was shocked to feel his arm wrap around her shoulders.

"Y-you're s-safe." Gabriel said as he pointed his finger to the horizon. "L-look." Sasha avoided looking down to see the monstrous titans and instead looked over the green horizon and saw an amalgamation of orange, purple, and yellow as the sun set in the distance. She felt comfort looking at this, this was what they were fighting for. The endless fields of green, and vast roaring blue oceans and snowy mountains higher than the eye could see that Armin always talked about. She gasped, being moved by the beauty of the world outside. Suddenly, the titans below her no longer scared her.

"Gabriel?" Sasha said.

"Y-yeah?" Gabriel responded.

"I'm gonna join the Scouts." She said. "Now that I see what's out there for us, a whole world, it's worth fighting for. I see that now, thanks to you."

"A-are y-you s-sure?" Gabriel asked. She had been so terrified earlier.

"Yes, with you here, we can do anything." She said as she leaned into his chest. "I'm glad your my friend Gabriel, I'm so happy I met you."

"M-me too!" Gabriel said as the two watched the sun descend from the sky as night took over. Sasha's stomach growled and she realized she had missed dinner! She then looked up at Gabriel and out the horizon and figured for this magical moment, dinner was worth skipping.

**Ugh too much mushy cinnamon roll bullshit fluff for me. Of course Gabriel got friend zoned hehehe.**

**Damn This the third chapter today! I'm on a roll!**

**R&R**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The bells of Trost rung signaling the mark of the hour. Gabriel was suited up and ready to go, his new Scout Regiment jacket and cloak both hanging on the door waiting for him. He walked out of his room in the barracks as his cloak flowed behind him. His strong muscular body and handsome face was attracting a lot of looks from some of the younger women in town. He approached the Scouts who had a small base set up at the foot of the wall. He saw Levi and his squad along with Hange and Mike who were waiting for him.

"Hmph, on time at least." Levi said as Gabriel made it exactly at 0800. "Word of advice, next time make sure you leave fifteen minutes early, you just made it on time."

"Yes s-sir!" Gabriel said. He saw Oluo walking up to him with a stern Petra.

"Hey Heimer, um-" Oluo began to say as Petra kicked him in the leg. "Ow Dammit!"

"Say it!" Petra demanded.

"I'm sorry I called you that word." Oluo confessed. "I honestly thought you were just messing around, I didn't know you were-well you know."

"Even if he wasn't you shouldn't say that word anyway, it's a disgusting cruel word!" Petra scolded.

"T-thanks!" Gabriel smiled. He was happy to see Oluo didn't mean it.

"You're actually pretty good." Oluo said. "But don't think you'll beat MY Titan kill record. It's the highest after the Captains!"

"Um o-okay?" Gabriel said confused. Was he not supposed to kill titans now?

"Shut your idiotic face Oluo." Levi said walking over. "It's showtime. We are gonna use our gear to go over the wall to the other side. Our job is just to clear titans just outside the wall. We will not have horses so don't venture too far out or you will be screwed if you run out of gas. Heimer! You'll be with Hange, of course knowing her she's gonna try to get you to capture one of these damn titans, just say no and do your job understood?"

"Yes sir!" Everyone said.

"Good, lets go, I want this done before I miss my afternoon tea." Levi said as he fired his anchors and flew up the wall. The other scouts followed suit as they scaled the wall. Gabriel felt the rush of air as he came to the top and overlooked the field outside. He could see Scouts already engaging and kill titans. The whirring sounds of anchors and titans falling echoed across the basin.

"Heimer." Levi said again. "This is as real as it's gonna get. It's an open field so you won't have the advantage of buildings and a wall to anchor to like in Trost. Pay attention to your surroundings and don't take any unnecessary risks, you are no good to anyone dead. Shitty glasses over there may be annoying but she's been around long enough to know how to fight, stick with her understand?"

"Y-yes s-sir!" Gabriel said. Levi modded and jumped down with his squad to start bagging some kills.

"Okay Heimer!" Hanji said giggling. "Let's go!" Gabriel followed her as they went back down the wall to start the operation. Gabriel looked for a Titan to take down and only saw a three meter running towards him. He found the smaller titans were much harder to take down than the large ones due to having to get down so low. Gabriel let himself fall till the last possible minute before using gas to slow his descent. He landed on the ground as the Titan ran at him. Levi saw this and got enraged.

"_What the hell is he doing? He's gonna be easy picking on the ground?!"_ "HEIMER GODDAMMIT WHAT I DID I JUST SAY?" He yelled. Gabriel didn't listen as the three meter went to grab him. Gabriel stepped to the side and kicked the Titan in the leg causing it to fall down. Gabriel quickly ran and sliced the nape before it could get back up. Levi saw this and was impressed, the chances of winning on the ground like that against a Titan, even a small one, were very low. Still, he had told Gabriel no unnecessary risks. He could have easily killed that Titan without having to land on the ground.

"Don't worry grumpy! He's fine!" Hanji cheered. Levi grunted, that crazy woman would be the death of him. Gabriel continued to fly around killing any titans he came across. He had rescued at least two soldiers whom fired distress signals. Their names were Gelgar and Nanaba, Gabriel as usual botched the woman's name and wound up calling her Banana. Hanji looked with pride, Gabriel was doing very well for a newbie. Not once had he needed help. He had killed six Titan so far and was impressing everyone with his skill. Gabriel felt pride as his dream came true, fighting with the scouts, his green cloak billowing in the air. He got zoned out and closed his eyes to envision a bright future ahead. Perhaps he got too cocky with his skill,

Because that one moment was all it took.

When Gabriel opened his eyes he saw a massive hand smack into him full force. He was sent hurtling to the ground. He yelled as he somersaulted several times, the impact caused his gear to shatter as he finally stopped rolling. He winced in pain but quickly got up and realized the dire situation he was in.

On the ground, on an open field, with no gear.

This was the worst case scenario. He could hear Hanji screaming as she tried to come over to him but was intercepted a Titan. Gabriel quickly looked around now very very afraid at how exposed he was. Sure enough a 5 meter Titan came charging at him from afar, ignoring all other Scouts in the area meaning this was an abnormal.

"Oh s-shit!" Gabriel cursed. He was very afraid now, that Titan would be on him any minute and he had to way of escaping or defending himself. All the scouts were either too far away to see what happened or were trying to get to him but were stopped by titans. Gabriel steeled himself with courage as he got into a fighting stance. He had fought titans before one on one and won, surely he could do it again right?

"HEIMER!" Hanji screamed loudly as she hacked away at the Titan in her way. Gabriel charged as the Titan lunged. Gabriel somersaulted underneath the monster as it flew above him. Gabriel quickly got to his feet and punched the Titan in the leg. The Titan moved but didn't fall. Gabriel figured this one was much bigger than the ones he fought barehanded before. Even with his strength this would be difficult. The Titan turned around and went to grab but Gabriel punched its arm away and hit the Titan in the stomach as hard as he could with all the strength he could muster. The Titan was knocked back considerably but still did not fall down. Gabriel was getting nervous again. For so long he relied on his overwhelming strength to get him out of a jam and now it seems it wouldn't be enough. The Titan lunged again and Gabriel stepped to the side but wasn't quick enough and the Titan bit down on his arm hard.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Gabriel yelled in pain. The titans teeth broke through skin and muscle and was threatening to snap the bone. Now frantic and having to fight for his life. Gabriel assaulted the titan in the face with his free hand punching it again and again without stopping at great speeds. His heart was beating heavily, his breathing overtaxing, and his body doing everything in its power to avoid death. The Titan finally let go as Gabriel fell back clutching his arm. Luckily the bone was still intact but the skin and muscle had been badly shredded. Blood leaked out in great amounts as the pure adrenaline rush blocked out any pain he would have felt.

"_No! I'm gonna die_!" Gabriel thought. No he couldn't die! He had so many people he loved, he needed to live for them. To grow old and look back on the worst of this through drinks. The Titan grinned sinisterly as it slowly prepared to lunge again. It's eyes in a manic delight over its meal and blood dripping from its putrid mouth made for a disturbing sight. Gabriel gulped, this was the most scared he had ever been in his life. He then noticed a glint in the grass, one of his blades was there! If he could reach he'd stance a winning chance. He lunged for it and the Titan made its move. Gabriel grabbed just in time as the Titan charged into and knocked him to the ground. The Titan was on top of him chomping it's jaws trying to get more of sweet juicy meat it craved. Gabriel roared as pure instinct took over and he pushed the blade right through the titans neck.

"LEVI!" Hanji screamed. It was as if the titans were focused on fending her off so Gabriel could be killed since everything she got one, two more took its place. Levi knew a scream like that was serious. He turned to see a Titan on top of someone, was it?

"GODDAMMIT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WATCH HIM!" Levi yelled as he furiously killed every Titan in his path. He flew full speed towards Gabriel.

"DIIIIEEEE GODDAMMIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTT!" Gabriel yelled as his blood continued to pour from his arm covering him in a crimson shade. He continued to viciously above the blade through the titans neck trying to hit the nape on the other side. He had awoken his primal self once more in this life or death situation. The force of the blows he delivered to the Titan would have killed any human but this Titan was much larger and sturdier. Gabriel had opted to sacrifice his arm in order to save his life as the Titan munched and chewed on his limb. This way Gabriel was able to push the titans back. After what felt like an eternity, the Titan suddenly stopped biting. Gabriel had finally hit the nape and the Titan fell down dead. He hyperventilated as he pulled his mutilated arm out of the titans mouth. Bone was visible underneath the torn muscle. His skin grew pale from the blood loss as his body tried to recover from the brutal fight it had just endured. The shock and adrenaline began to wear off as pain and exhaustion took over, the last thing he saw was Levi grabbing him.

**Xxx**

Gabriel awoke in pain, he looked at his arm and saw it had been stitched up. He was worried it was amputated, he remembered during training they all learned how to amputate a totaled limb. He was grateful it didn't come to that. The pain was pretty bad, he winced and groaned as his arm flared up.

"What the hell was that? Why the fuck was he on the ground with no goddamn gear?" Gabriel heard Levi's voice from the other side of the door.

"He was doing fine! The Titan blindsided him completely! There was nothing I could have done!" He heard Hanjis voice as well. He could of swore he heard a crack in it like she was trying not to cry.

"Goddammit he's lucky his arm didn't flayed off! He could have fucking died!" Levi screamed again. Gabriel tucked into his blanket, Levi sounded really mad.

"Enough you two!" He heard the stern voice of Commander Erwin. "What's done is done, let's be grateful he is alive and able bodied.

"Able bodied? Did you _see_ his arm? It was hanging together by a few muscle threads and bone when I picked him up!" Levi said back. Gabriel yelped as Levi slammed the door open in rage.

"You!" Levi said. Gabriel slowly peeked his head over the covers. "You flew right into that titans hand. There was no way you couldn't have seen coming unless you were not paying attention!"

"I uh-" Gabriel tried to say.

"Do you even realize how close you came to dying?" Levi asked. Your arm was spurting blood when I got there, you almost ended up as Titan shit!"

"I-I'm s-sorry." Gabriel said upset that he let everyone down. Levi turned to Erwin and pointed a finger at his face.

"This was a mistake, you never should have put a rookie out there without a squad of experienced scouts working with him!" Levi yelled.

"Watch your tone _Captain_." Erwin said threateningly. Erwin was normally easy going but he was not going to stand for his finest soldier to blatantly disrespect him like that. "Stand down and stay quiet." Levi exhaled loudly as he regained his bearings. Erwin walked over to Gabriel and sat on a chair next to the bed.

"How are you?" Erwin asked sympathetically.

"M-my a-arm h-hurts r-really b-bad." Gabriel whimpered.

"You has a Titan gnawing on it for a while, luckily for you the surgeon was able to see you back together pretty well. Seems you heal rather quickly and no bones were broken." Erwin said. "Good news is you'll be up and healed in a few weeks.

"I-I'm s-sorry." Gabriel said catching Erwin off guard.

"Pardon?" Erwin asked.

"I-I l-let y-you d-d-down." Gabriel said sadly.

"Let me down? Heimer you killed seven titans out there and saved two of my soldiers and then kill a Titan with your no gear! That was stellar performance on your part." Erwin said smiling.

"B-but I-I g-got h-hurt." Gabriel said.

"Well you can't have a career like this one and expect not to get hurt at some point." Erwin said before shifting to a more serious tone. "Actually I think this is good for you. Captain Levi is right, you should have easily been able to avoid that titans hand. You got cocky and let your guard down, you are good Heimer, one of the best I've seen but you are not immortal. I imagine someone as strong as you probably never got put in a life or death situation like that one. Use this as a lesson. Do not underestimate the titans no matter what, you saw how powerful they are first hand fighting that one without gear. I expect to see you up and back to duty before our next expedition."

"Yes s-sir." Gabriel said. Erwin got up to walk out and stopped at the door.

"And Heimer? I'm proud of you, you did good today. Despite how it ended you showed incredible valor and heart. Most would have simply resigned to their fate in the position you were in." Erwin complimented.

"T-thank you sir!" Gabriel replied. Erwin shut the door before turning to Levi.

"What has gotten into you?" Erwin asked. "You never allow your emotions to get the best of you like that."

"I know." Levi said. "I was out of line."

"That you were, you owe Hanji an apology. Even you wouldn't have been able to stop that Titan from swatting him." Erwin said.

"I know it's just-" Levi paused. "That kid is annoying for sure but for some reason I just-"

"Yes?" Erwin asked raising an eyebrow.

"I've grown rather fond of him." Levi said. "I haven't known him long but whenever he's around and seeing how happy he always is, it's just, it helps me forget how shitty the world is."

"Well I certainly didn't expect this from you." Erwin said. "Seems the boy has impacted you more than I would have thought."

"He's special Erwin, he has a genuine pure heart. That's why I don't want anything bad to happen to him." Levi admitted. He had never opened up like this before.

"You're treading on dangerous water Levi." Erwin said. "You know as well as me personal attachments like that will spell doom on the battlefield."

"I know." Levi said. "You have my word I won't let it interfere on missions."

"Good, now go apologize to Hanji and that is an order." Erwin said.

"Yes sir." Levi winced. He hated apologizing, let alone apologizing to shitty glasses. Levi made his way out as Erwin called to him.

"You're right Levi, he is special. He will play a great role in our victory one day." Erwin said. Levi allowed a rare smile to go across his face once he knew no one was looking.

**Even Levi growing fond of him. This chapter was pretty fun to write so I hope y'all enjoy it!**

**I've been writing for like the last three hours and I can't stop!**

**R&R**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

News of Gabriel's condition quickly spread throughout the cadet corps. While all were filled with worry for their beloved friend, many were filled with fear. If even Gabriel had almost gotten killed what did that say for their chances? Gabriel's recovery had been remarkable to say the least. He had been given a highly regulated drug to help with the pain of his arm. What really made him happy was all his friends coming to visit. Connie and Reiner has gone off saying how badass he was. Jean, Ymir, and Bertholdt showed him concern but still laughed with him over the matter. Annie had been shockingly affectionate. Christa, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin had been emotional wrecks seeing him in such a condition.

"Here Gabe." Mikasa said holding a spoonful of warm soup to his lips. Gabriel happily gulped it down.

"T-tanks! Y-you're t-the b-bestest b-big s-s-sister e-ever!" Gabriel praised causing Mikasa's heart to melt. She had grown so cold over the years, it was Gabriel's pure unconditional love for her that kept that tiny bit of warmth going. She almost cried when she saw how overjoyed he was just to see them all again. The happiness and excitement in his eyes made life worth living.

"I got to say Gabe." Eren said playfully punching him in the good arm. "I don't know how you walk with those massive balls of yours."

"M-my b-balls a-aren't t-that b-big t-though!" Gabriel said which caused Armin to spit out his drink out of laughter.

"So how were they? The Scouts?" Eren asked intrigued. Gabriel swallowed his soup before turning to him.

"T-theyre r-really c-cool! M-Ms P-Petra I-is s-super n-n-nice! A-a-and Ms B-banana is r-r-really c-cool!" He said referring to Nanaba. Mikasa giggled at his excitement.

"What was it like to be outside the wall?" Armin asked. Gabriel indulged his brother telling him all about the scenery that no one other than the Scouts had seen in five years.

"I c-can't w-Wait f-for t-the t-t-titans t-t-to b-be g-gone a-an-and w-we can b-be f-free t-to s-see the o-ocean!" Gabriel declared. His optimism was so refreshing in this world of hopelessness. He always listened in wonder to Armin when he'd describe the ocean and its majestic beauty. They continued to talk for an hour when Armin and Mikasa had to leave for watch duty.

"Bye Gabe, ill come see you soon." Mikasa said planting a soft kiss on his cheek before walking out.

"I can't wait to hear more but I have to go to watch." Armin said hugging Gabriel before he too left leaving Eren and Gabriel alone.

"You know I never got to say sorry." Eren said full of guilt. Gabriel looked at him in confusion. "For attacking you when I was a Titan in Trost."

"I-it's o-okay, y-you d-don't m-mean it." Gabriel said.

"I know but still, they were right to think I was a monster at the trial." Eren said.

"Y-you're n-not a-a-a m-monster, y-you're m-my b-brother." Gabriel said genuinely. Eren couldn't help but smile at this. The usual rage monster he usually acted like around others disappeared when he talked to Gabriel, his voice was calm and quiet.

"Thanks, I'm glad I got you at my side." Eren said. "Especially after these tests, frickin Hanji has been running me ragged." Gabriel laughed at hearing this.

"H-have y-you k-kissed M-Mik a-again?" Gabriel asked out of the blue. Eren's face quickly turned to shock.

"W-hat! No!" Eren stuttered. Damn he was hoping Gabriel never saw that! Dammit Mikasa! Now everyone though they were dating!

"S-she r-really l-likes y-you." Gabriel said.

"I know it's just." Eren sighed. "I just always viewed her as a sister so it's hard for me to feel that way about her."

"D-do y-you l-like h-her?" Gabriel asked.

"I mean." Eren said. "I care about her for sure, I know sometimes I can be mean to her and she's just looking out for me but it gets annoying you know? I really do want her to be happy, she deserves someone who can give her that happiness and I Don't think it's me."

"I-I w-want y-you t-two t-to b-be happy." Gabriel said. "Y-you'd m-make g-good p-parents."

"Huh?" Eren flashed red at what Gabriel was suggesting. Him and Mikasa having babies?

"I-I'd l-love t-to b-b-be an u-uncle." Gabriel said smiling.

"Maybe one day you can be a dad." Eren said. He knew Gabriel loved children and was really good with them. Eren remembered a year back when Gabriel and Christa were helping at a hospital on their days off and a little girls dad was very sick. Gabriel would play with her every day and would bring her treats and toys. When her father recovered the little girl hugged Gabriel saying that he was her hero.

"Um I-I d-don't k-know." Gabriel said sadly.

"What's wrong?" Eren asked.

"N-no g-girl w-would w-w-want t-to m-marry m-me." Gabriel said.

"You kidding me? You got more muscles on one arm than Jean does on his whole body!" Eren said making sure to insult Jean whom he despised. "Not to mention you're a great soldier! Any girl would love to marry you!"

"B-because I-I'm d-dumb." Gabriel said sadly. Eren knew how self conscious was Gabriel was about his intelligence.

"You're not dumb Gabriel." Eren said as he fluffed Gabriel's pillow. "You just get confused sometimes and that's okay. You're a good person and that's what matters. Besides if that smug stinking cock sucking horse faced asshole Jean-Boy can attract girls then trust me you should have no problem!" Eren said with caused Gabriel to laugh out loud.

**Xxx**

Sasha has been a wreck, when the news reached her of what happened to Gabriel she had never panicked that hard in her life. She even missed dinner again just to go see him. She had slammed into the door nearly breaking if off the hinge to see Gabriel drawing in the journal she gave him.

"S-Sasha h-hi!" He yelled happily. Seeing her made him really happy. She put her hands over her mouth and fell to her knees overwhelmed with emotions.

"Y-you're okay!" She whimpered out between tears. She got up and walked over to him and hugged him tightly. "I thought I lost you!"

"N-no! D-don't c-cry!" Gabriel said distressed. He didn't like when people cried. "S-see I-I'm o-okay! P-please d-don't b-be sad!"

"I'm not sad, I'm just so happy you're alive." Sasha said wiping a tear away. She held Gabriel's large calloused hand in hers. She examined his arm and cringed when she saw the ugly marks of Titan teeth being held together by stitches. "Oh my-" She said rubbing his hand with her thumb. She couldn't even imagine the awful pain and fear that he experienced.

"S-Sasha?" Gabriel asked.

"H-how did you escape? This looks so painful!" Sasha inquired. Her heart aches seeing such a horrible wound on him. How much pain did he endure?

"I-I t-thought I-I was g-gonna die." Gabriel confessed. The sheer terror of that Titan glaring at him like he was nothing more than a piece of raw chicken made him shudder. "B-but I-I t-thought o-of a-a-all of y-you." Gabriel said. In his darkest hour so far, when he was pushed to the brink in a hopeless situation, he thought of those he loved more than his own life. "I t-thought of E-Eren, M-Mik, Armin, A-Annie, R-Reiner, B-Bertie, J-Jean, C-c-c-c-Connie, C-c-c-Christa, a-a-and y-you. I-I w-wanted t-to s-see y-y-you a-all a-again. I w-wanted t-to s-see y-you a-all s-smile a-again!" Sasha's heart couldn't take anymore. To know in what could have been his last moments, all he could think of was everyone he loved. Sasha brought his hand to her cheek. She smiled at him through her tearful eyes.

"Gabriel, we are all so lucky to have you. I wish I could show you how much you mean to everyone here." Sasha said honestly. Why did her very soul long for him? Why did she crave his touch? Why did she forgo meals to be with him? Sasha felt another type of hunger within. She wanted to be with him, she wanted to always hear his voice-Wait was she?

Was she falling in love with him?

"S-Sasha?" He asked.

"Oh it's nothing I'm just- I'm just-" She said looking into his eyes. Those pure innocent eyes which radiated love and warmth for all life around him. His locks of healthy brown hair, his pale skin, so free of blemishes and marks. His strong jawline and his body without an ounce of fat on him. His bravery and selflessness, his sweet and gentle nature, his passion for setting humanity free. Sasha breathed heavily, she felt a desire for him growing within. She lowered her hand from his face down his strong muscular neck. She then rubbed his solid rock pectorals. She imagined him without that shirt on, his strong hands grasping her shoulders as he kissed her firmly and gently while she-

"Um? I d-don't h-have b-boobies. W-why a-re y-you t-touching t-there? He asked referring to Sasha's hands which were caressing his chest. Sasha snapped out of her trance and felt guilt rising within. She pushed those lustful thoughts out of her head. He was too innocent, too pure to think of in that way.

"Sorry I was just uh wondering how much you bench press! Yeah that's it!" She said nervously.

"M-most I-I e-ever d-did w-was s-s-six h-hundred." Gabriel said.

"Oh okay six hundred yeah-Wait!" She said in shock. "Six hundred pounds?!"

"Y-Yup!" Gabriel said. Sasha laughed in shock, he could literally bench press almost quadruple her body weight. No wonder he had able to overpower that Titan in the ammo room in Trost!

"Y-Yup!" Gabriel said as he rubbed the back of his head. Sasha watched as his massive bicep contracted in order to bend his arm. The veins and striations teased her to no end.

"I gotta go!" Sasha said gulping as she ran out the room leaving Gabriel oblivious to everything. She leaned against the door and slid down till she fell on her butt. "What's happening to me?" She asked herself.

**Xxx**

Sasha was beginning to regret her decision but she knew only this person could help her.

"Please Ymir! I don't know what to do!" Sasha pleased.

"Haha you got the hots for Heimer! Honestly I called this the first day at training when he carried your ass to your room." Ymir said laughing as she puffed on a cigarette and took a sip of ale. She blew the smoke into Sasha's face who quickly coughed at the smoke which entered her lungs.

"Please Ymir this is serious!" Sasha said coughing.

"Oh Potato Girl." Ymir said putting her arm around Sasha. "I know I'm a bitch and I make fun of you but for real, I like you, Annie and Mikasa are both bitches, you're just too much fun and I love to fuck with you!" Sasha couldn't tell if that was genuine or the alcohol was doing the talking. "Can't blame you though, even someone as gay as me can tell Heimers quite a hunk."

"It's not just his body!" Sasha said. "He's just so sweet and brave, and loving. I just want to hold him and-"

"Have him pin you on the wall and thrust inside of you till you scream?" Ymir said laughing as she chugged the remainder of her ale.

"NO!" Sasha screamed as her face flushed red.

"Oh I'm only joking girl!" Ymir laughed. "Listen if you feel this way then next time you see him, just slide your hand down his pants and put that tongue to work!"

"YMIR!" Sasha cried at hearing something so dirty. "He's too sweet, I can't just do that to him!"

"Well then you have to get him turned on too." Ymir said drunkenly stumbling. "Show off your assets, all those potatoes have been going somewhere!" Ymir said playfully grabbing Sasha's well rounded chest. Sasha quickly slapped her hands away in disgust. Ymir roared with laughter almost hitting her head on the bar.

"Are you going to help me or not?!" Sasha asked. She was getting annoyed at this point.

"Alright alright calm your ovaries honey!" Ymir said. "If you like him then why don't you just tell him?'

"I can't do that!" Sasha cried. "What if he doesn't feel the same way and resents me for it?"

"Oh girl." Ymir said as she belched. "Sometimes shit just don't work out, at least if he does reject you he's a real sweetie, he'll be nice about it. In all seriousness that boy doesn't have a hateful bone in his body!"

"I guess but still, I just-" Sasha said sadly. Ymir noticed this and quickly put her drunken ramblings on hold.

"Look, I only fuck around with chicks, I'm a bitchy lesbian, so I'm not an expert on straight dating. I'd ask Reiner but I think he fucks around with dudes."

"Wait really?" Sasha asked. Reiner was very handsome. He could get any girl he wanted with his confidence and body.

"Um have you seen how much he's with Bertholdt? Only times guys spend that much time together is when they're giving each other the contact rear." Ymir stated before turning to the bar tender. "Hey two shots and two beers down here for me and and my friend please!"

"Coming right up miss, same as usual?" The bartender asked.

"Oh you know it!" Ymir said.

"I don't drink!" Sasha protested.

"Not yet!" Ymir said as two shots of whiskey and two pints of ale were slid down their way. Ymir grabbed the glasses of whiskey and offered it to Sasha. "Trust me, itll make you feel much better."

"Um okay." Sasha said as she took a shot. "Bleh!" She gagged. "This tastes awful! How can you even dri-" Sasha paused as she felt giddiness and warmth spread throughout her body. "Ooh what is this?"

"That's what we call a buzz." Ymir said smiling devilishly. Sasha clearly had no tolerance for alcohol, getting her drunk was going to be fun!

**Xxx**

Gabriel had gotten out of his bed to stand up, it was only his arm that was injured after all so he figured walking wouldn't hurt. He also grew restless from sitting in a bed for the last day. He looked out the window when he heard the door open and in walked Annie.

"H-hi!" Gabriel waved.

"Well I'm glad to see you're up and moving." Annie replied walking up to him. "I can't believe you fought off a Titan that size without gear."

"I-it w-was h-h-hard!" Gabriel said. "N-no m-matter h-h-how h-hard I-I h-h-hit h-he w-wouldn't g-go d-down." Annie gulped hard. That had to be the most helpless and demoralizing feeling in the world when your overwhelming strength becomes nothing. Looks like even someone as powerful as Gabriel had his limits. The two continued to chat for twenty minutes before Annie got up to leave.

"Well I wanted to stop by hand see you cause we choose our branches tomorrow and I'm heading to the interior. I don't know when I'll be able to see you again." Annie said.

"I-I'll c-come v-visit y-you!" Gabriel said as Annie pulled him in for a quick hug.

"Thanks for being there for me, I really am gonna miss seeing you everyday." Annie said genuinely.

"M-me t-too!" Gabriel said. Annie pulled away and began to walk away but paused at the door. She looked back at him sadly.

"Are you going to be healed up in time for the Scouts next expedition?" She asked.

"Y-Yup!" Gabriel replied.

"Gabriel I really think you should sit that one out." Annie said pleadingly.

"B-b-but C-commander E-Erwin n-needs m-me." Gabriel protested.

"But you're hurt, an injury like that could take well over a month to heal! Plus you won't be able to get any ODM practice in!" Annie said. "I don't want anything to happen to you, I want you to be around for as long as possible. I have a really bad feeling about the next expedition."

"I-I h-have t-to b-be t-t-there." Gabriel said. "I-i c-can't j-just s-stay w-when t-t-they a-are a-all fi-f-fighting." Annie sighed as she relented, at least she tried.

"Just please be safe out there." She said as she walked out. Conflict and confusion clouding her mind.

**Xxx**

"Ohhh Yeeemy !" Sasha said completely inebriated. Sasha had never consumed alcohol before, her small frame also didn't help. Once that first shot went down her throat it was all over for her.

"So what *hic* are you gonna do?" Ymir asked beyond the point of blitzed.

"I'm go-gonna *hic* fuck his goddamn brains out!" Sasha giggled. Ymir laughed, she loved twisting innocence into lust, if only she could get Christa this drunk. They said that sober thoughts became drunken actions."

"Go-get him!" Ymir said lighting another cigarette. Sasha laughed hysterically as she tried to stand up but quickly fell over. She couldn't even stand up straight due to the alcohol effects. Sasha continued to mumble nonsense till she started snoring, her body finally succumbing to the ethanol flowing in her blood.

"Aw geez!" Ymir said placing money on the table and putting out her cigarette. Ymir was feeling very drunk but could at least still stand and walk. She grabbed Sasha and slowly but surely made their way to their beds. Ymir laughing evilly wondering how Sasha would handle her first hangover.

**Damn I can't stop! I'm having so much fun writing this!**

**R&R**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

As the weeks went on, Gabriel's arm healed up enough to no longer need consistent bandaging. He slowly began to use his arm in activities again. He had been relocated to the former Scout Regiment headquarters where Eren was with Levi Squad. He was happy to see Eren again and wanted to see everyone else but learned he would not see them again till they departed for the expedition. He wasn't sure how many joined the scouts, he knew Reiner, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin for sure. Sasha has said she would join too, he knew Jean and Annie were focused on the Military Police. He wasn't sure about Bertholdt, Connie, Ymir, and Christa.

"Hey Heimer." Levi said walking up to him. Gabriel had been stretching his body out ready to do some ODM training, he had been bedridden for too long.

"Y-yes sir!" Gabriel said saluting.

"Come with me." Levi ordered. Gabriel complied and began to walk with him. "Here's the deal, I'm gonna die-"

"N-NO Y-YOU C-CANT!" Gabriel interrupted much to Levi's annoyance. "A-are y-you s-sick?"

"Let me finish!" Levi barked as Gabriel shut up. "I'm gonna die one day, whether by a Titan or old age one day I will be gone, I take it even you understand that things die correct?"

"Y-yeah." Gabriel said. He didn't like thinking about how one day everyone he knew would be gone.

"My title of Humanity's Strongest, it gives a lot of morale and hope to people. When I'm gone that hope will go too." Levi explained. "That's why I want to train you to be my successor." Gabriel gasped, he wanted him to be his successor!

"B-but w-why m-me?" Gabriel asked. He was honored but didn't know what made him so special.

"It was a tie between you and Ackerman." Levi said. "You both have skills that can contend with even me. You have 35 solo Titan kills already, 3 of those were on the ground. In just one battle and mission you bagged more kills than the majority of the Scouts. With further training and experience you will surpass me, you will become the next Humanity's Strongest. I didn't pick Ackerman because her obsession with Eren clouds her judgement, plus she hates my damn guts for kicking his ass in the courtroom." He had overheard by many how Mikasa loathed him for beating Eren. "As such I want you on my squad, you have the minimum Titan kill count to qualify and despite your idiotic crash into the titans hand a few weeks back, you are very focused when you fight. Unfortunately you have to go on at least one real expedition and come back. Trost and the clean up operation don't count since they didn't give you the full experience. Being so far out in Titan territory with no backup other than those that came with you. As such should you survive this expedition you will be joining my Squad."

"W-wow!" Gabriel said intrigued. He was gonna be in Levi Squad!

"I also want to teach you my reverse grip and spin maneuvers." Levi said. "If I could get you to master that then you will be unstoppable. It is the superior way to kill titans but because of all the spinning involved, most get too dizzy from it and wind up falling on their ass afterward."

"D-Dont y-you g-get d-dizzy?" Gabriel asked.

"Of course, but I spin for a short enough amount of time that I don't get too disoriented. It takes practice knowing how long to spin for and not many are able to do it, let alone to the degree I know." Levi said. "Are you cleared for ODM use?"

"Yes sir!" Gabriel said.

"Good, stay here while go get my gear on. And be ready because I'm about to run you ragged." Levi warned.

**Xxx**

"I - I -I." Gabriel said hyperventilating. Levi wasn't lying when he said he'd run him ragged.

"You completely botched that." Levi said to him. Gabriel had attempted a spin maneuver but was spinning for way to long and as a result completely collapsed when he landed. This occurred about fifty times before Levi stopped him. "But it was your first time, it'll take a while to master it."

"S-so d-dizzy!" Gabriel whined as the earth seemed to spin around him. This was hard!

"From now on you'll have lessons with me in the evening. That takes priority over everything else, unless Commander Erwin summons you for something I expect to see you here at 1700 sharp everyday." Levi said. "If you miss one without a reasonable excuse then trust me I will push you so hard you'll throw yourself at a Titan just to get away."

"Y-yes sir!" Gabriel gulped. This was gonna be super hard.

"You're dismissed." Levi said as he made his way back to the headquarters for some evening tea. His tea was one of the few things he truly looked forward to every day. Had this world not had titans in it Levi would have liked to have opened his own tea shop. He walked into the kitchen and put a pot of water over a fire to heat it up. He then went to his tea drawer to decide which one he wanted. Black tea perhaps? It was his favorite after all, but it was too late in the day for caffeine, maybe some green tea? No he had that today already, he wanted something different. Levi decided Chamomile would be a good choice. He opened the tea drawer only to find it was empty.

"_Shit! I forgot to get more today!"_ Levi thought angrily. He had been running low on tea bags and meant to go get more but got caught up training Gabriel. There was no way he'd make it to a shop before they all closed. He growled as he slammed the drawer shut. What the hell was he gonna do now? He looked around and saw bottles of cheap alcohol, he almost considered it but didn't want to deal with a hangover the next morning.

"Captain is everything alright?" Levi turned to see Petra dressed in casual clothes enter the kitchen. "I heard something slam."

"Ran out of tea bags." Levi said. Petra knew Levi was grumpy as it was but without his tea he was even more unpleasant to be around.

"There's a shop not too far from here." Petra offered.

"I wouldn't make it, by the time I go grab a horse and get saddled up and ride over it'll already be closed." Levi replied. Gabriel had overheard the conversation and entered the kitchen. Levi turned to see his trainee standing in the doorway.

"Oh hi Gabriel." Petra waves. Gabriel waved back as he reached into his pocket.

"Um I-I h-have s-some t-tea." He said. This caught Levi's attention.

"What kind?" He asked.

"N-not s-sure." Gabriel said as he pulled out a pouch of tea leaves. After he had been bitten they gave it to him to help fight off any infections that made their way in. "I-it's m-minty."

"Well don't just stand there." Levi said. "You know how to make tea?"

"Y-yeah!" Gabriel said. He remembered his aunt used to brew him tea as a kid and he slowly learned how to do it.

"Let me see the tea bag." Levi said. Gabriel walked over and handed the pouch to Levi who took a few sniffs. "Herbal mint, made from the livodius inki flowers in southern Wall Sina."

"You could tell just by sniffing?" Petra asked. That was impressive.

"There are two things in this world I excel at, killing titans and tea, the first one is work, the second is a hobby." Levi said handing the pouch back to Gabriel. "Let the water boil and then let it steep for exactly four minutes and nineteen seconds, do not take it out early or it'll be too watery and do not take it out too late or it'll be too minty." Petra laughed at how particular Levi was with his tea as Gabriel went to work. She could hear Gabriel counting the seconds so he took it out when he needed to.

"Bring the rest of the squad here." Levi ordered. "There's enough tea to go around."

"Really?" Petra asked confused. Levi never spent time with his squad outside of training like this.

"I just so happen to be in a slightly good mood right now." Levi said. "Plus I have an announcement to make regarding our young Scout over there."

"Okay I'll be right back!" Petra said excited. She really liked spending time with Levi but he was always too grumpy to really talk too.

"98..99...100! Um." Gabriel said as he stopped counting. "W-what c-comes a-after o-one h-hundred?"

"101, followed by 102 and so forth! And fifteen seconds have passed since you stopped at 100 so start counting again at 117!" Levi called back. He was not going to be in a good mood if the tea was even the slightest bit off. Petra soon arrived with Eld, Gunther, and Oluo who all sat around the table.

"So what's this announcement?" Gunther asked.

"We have a new member to our squad." Levi said.

"Who?" Eld inquired. Levi tilted his head over in Gabriel's direction who was carefully observing the steeping.

"Heimer?" Oluo asked. This fresh out of training? It took him and the other members of this squad months to get hand picked by him.

"You all saw what he was capable of in Trost and despite his idiotic action of flying right into that titans hand, he has a skill level I have never seen before." Levi explained. "Of course he has to go on this expedition and return back alive before its official."

"I agree!" Gunther said. "Kid was amazing out there, he moved so fast my eyes couldn't even keep up!"

"I think it's a little too soon for such a fresh recruit to join but he is incredible in battle." Eld chimed in.

"Eh whatever, it's about time I got some real competition anyway." Oluo said smugly. He had the highest amount of solo kills on the squad after Levi and wasn't afraid to boast about it.

"Ugh quit trying to act like the Captain would you." Petra said rolling her eyes.

"H-here e-everyone!" Gabriel said brining the pot of tea over. He carefully poured into each members cup. Levi grabbed his and brought to his nostrils where he inhaled the vapor rising off.

"Not bad, the scent is perfect match of mint." Levi said before taking a sip. His eyes widened slightly as he sweet taste went down his throat.

"Wow this is really good!" Gunther said.

"This might be the best tea I've tasted in a while!" Eld said.

"Not bad Heimer, looks like you're worth keeping around." Levi said. If it wasn't for the fact that the tea was so hot he would have gulped it down in one go.

"So." Oluo said putting down his tea cup. "Heimer, what made you choose the Survey Corps?"

"B-b-because-" Gabriel said as his eyes narrowed. He began to tremble as he looked up saw the Armored Titan staring him down, his aunt's body blooded and squashed under its foot. His home in flames…..

"Gabriel?" Petra asked concern. She yelped when he squeezed the cup he was holding for himself shattered under his grip.

"The Armored Titan, set my home to fire and ash. And then, he killed my aunt and uncle right in front of me. And he looked me square in the eye as if to say to me 'what are you gonna do about it?" Gabriel said. All but Levi were disturbed by the absence of his stuttering and is transition to someone so angry and full of hate. "The Armored Titan is mine, and I'll kill any other one that gets in my way." Gabriel pupils constricted and the veins in his arms bulged and threatened to burst open from the anger he was holding in.

"Heimer, that's enough." Levi said. Gabriel snapped out of it as his eyes and breathing returned to normal.

"D-did I-I-I d-do I-it a-again?" Gabriel asked shamefully.

"Yes." Levi said. Gabriel had become aware when he got angry he changed into a much meaner person.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry." Gabriel said looking at the shattered teacup. "I-I'll b-b-buy a-a n-new o-one."

"It's okay, it wasn't worth much anyway." Petra said trying to console him.

"It's getting late Heimer, you need a rest after training today. Head to your room and get some sleep." Levi ordered.

"Y-yes s-sir!" Gabriel said promptly leaving the room. Once he was gone and the door shut Oluo looked to his team mates.

"Please tell me we are gonna talk about that?" Oluo asked.

"That was really eerie, they way he changed like that." Eld said.

"Well as you heard from him he was there the day Wall Maria fell. The Armored Titan took his family from him and the boy has developed an unspeakable grudge." Levi explained. "Looks like whenever the Armored Titan is mentioned he goes crazy."

"But he's so sweet." Petra said distressed from seeing Gabriel turn so violent.

"Sweet or not, there is obviously a mental illness other than what makes him slow. Hanji has been working to find out what exactly. Regardless that seems to be his trigger along with seeing his friends get hurt." Levi explained.

"Is it wise to put him in battle then?" Eld asked. "Being blinded by rage is a huge liability."

"That's why Erwin wanted him on the clean up operation. Heimer seemed to have no freak outs until that Titan was on top of him about to bite his head off." Levi said. "Of course, anyone on a life or death situation like that would have gone crazy with fear."

"But what if he sees Eren getting attacked?" Eld asked. "Won't he go crazy then?"

"That's why for this operation we are putting him in a squad where he knows nobody. After that we will have much more time till the expedition afterwards to get him to a specialist to get his issues figured out. Point is, he is just too damn good to not use." Levi said. "For the time being, don't mention anything regarding the Armored Titan to him." The squad resumed finishing their tea and then went their separate ways to bed.

**Xxx**

Ugh dammit." Eren said as he sat at a table with Eld, Gunter, and Oluo. His arms steaming and bloodied. He had tried to transform but for some reason it wasn't working this time. He had nearly tore out his entire finger trying to trigger the transformation but it failed every time.

"So how come it didn't work this time?" Gunther asked out of curiosity.

"I don't know, I know hurting myself is usually what triggers it, I don't know why this time it isn't working." Eren said.

"If you can't turn into a Titan then any chance of sealing up Wall Maria goes out the window." Levi added in. "It would be next to impossible to seal the gate any other way." He then set his tea down and walked away to find Hanji and her assistant Moblit Berber. Before Eren's power was discovered, Erwin has planned on making supply bases along the path to Shiganshina while assembling a large force of engineers and construction workers to build a new gate by hand while the Scouts created a perimeter to protect them. This plan had many issues, including being able to transport enough wood and bricks to rebuild the gate and then finding anyone with the nerves to depart into Titan territory. Gabriel found himself observing an anthill and watched as the ants scurried along to and from the hill. Gabriel wondered if this was how humans looked to the titans. He saw a bright flash of light behind him before he was blown away by a shockwave. He tumbled over several times before he was able to regain his stance. He coughed several times from the dirt and steam that had entered his lungs. He waved away the dirt clouds to see what had happened.

"WHO TOLD YOU TO TRANSFORM EREN?" Gabriel heard Gunther say.

"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL HERE? He heard Petra yell.

"YOU GOT TEN SECONDS EREN! TEN SECONDS BEFORE I LOB YOUR HEAD OFF!" Oluo screamed.

"ARE YOU AN ENEMY OR AN ALLY?" Eld cried out.

"Uh oh!" Gabriel said. As the dust cleared he saw Levi Squad all have their blades drawn around a half formed Titan with a frantic Eren sticking out from the nape.

"_Dammit why now?!"_ Eren thought to himself. He knew the squad meant it about killing him if he lost control. "WAIT I DIDNT MEAN TO-"

"MOVE AGAIN AND YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!" Oluo yelled. Eren could easily crush them with his Titan hand if he wanted to.

"TIMES UP EREN!" Eld yelled. He approached with his blades as Eren began to freak out. Where the hell was Levi?

"NOOO!" Everyone turned to see Gabriel shoot in with his ODM gear in between Eren and the squad.

"Move Heimer!" Oluo ordered. "This doesn't concern you!"

"H-he's m-my b-brother!" Gabriel yelled.

"He transformed without our permission, how do we know he's not planning to kill someone?!" Petra cried out.

"H-he w-wouldn't!" Gabriel said as he felt his anger rising. He didn't want to lose control again, not when it was people he liked getting involved.

"Gabriel I am ORDERING you to stand down!" Eld demanded. He was second in command and when Levi wasn't present, his word was law. Gabriel narrowed his eyes, he stood his ground.

"Gabriel stop! They'll kill you!" Eren cried. Gabriel was good but against four of the best soldiers in the Scouts, he wouldn't have a chance.

"I-I n-not m-moving!" Gabriel declared. He didn't want anyone to get hurt.

"Gabriel!" Petra said.

"What are you all doing?" Everyone turned to see Levi walking back seemingly bored. "I leave for not even five minutes and Eren is transformed and you all are ready to chop his head off."

"Ah!" Eren yelled as he finally came free of the Titan body. He tumbled down the evaporating skeleton till he hit the ground. Gabriel ran to him to help him up as Levi turned to his squad.

"Eld what happened?" Levi asked.

"Eren transformed out of nowhere without permission Sir." Eld replied.

"Why did you transform?" Levi asked Eren.

"It was an accident sir! I didn't mean to do it!" Eren frantically replied. Levi Squad felt guilt go through their veins, they had assumed it was on purpose.

"We are done here for today, everyone had back to base. Heimer and Jaeger come with me."

"Yes sir!" They all replied. Eren and Gabriel followed Levi while the squad went their separate ways.

"They didn't want to actually harm you two." Levi said. "They are not heartless."

"I know." Eren said. He was pretty shaken, mostly because they had been so calm and friendly with him and they had made such a 180 and we're ready to kill him. He could understand why they reacted the way they did. Levi nodded in acknowledgement as he turned to Gabriel. He had grown close with the squad, especially Petra who had acted as a mother figure for him. She had always say listened to his stories and had taken time out of her day to help him work on his handwriting.

"Heimer." Levi said. "You understand right?"

"W-why w-were t-they s-so m-mad?" Gabriel asked.

"They were frightened, and reacted the way they were trained." Levi explained. "I know you are close to them, Petra especially, they were worried about you Gabriel."

"S-so t-they d-don't h-hate us?" Gabriel asked.

"No they do not." Levi said. Gabriel had hit everyone in the heart. It was a long time since he saw his squad smile so much. Petra especially seemed to really enjoy having him around. He She acted very maternal with him, the highlight of her day became spending time with Gabriel. They walked to HQ and were seated at the table. He wanted to keep these two and his squad separate so he could explain their reactions weren't personal. Soon the squad walked in with a look of shame on their face.

"So uh-" Gunther said rubbing the back of his head.

"You transformed by accident?" Eld asked.

"Yeah, when I reached for that spoon for some reason it happened." Eren said.

"Gabriel?" Petra asked walking up to him and held his hands in hers. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, we misread the situation. We thought you were in danger."

"E-Erens m-my b-brother, h-h-he wo-wouldn't h-hurt m-me." Gabriel said. Levi thought back to incident in Trost but figured it would be in poor taste to bring up.

"We know now." Petra said. "We were just worried was all, do you forgive me?"

"Y-yep!" Gabriel said making Petra smile. The squad looked at each other and nodded as they leaned down to bite into their hands they way Eren did to transform.

"What are you?" Eren said looking in shock.

"Ow that hurts, can't believe you go that deep." Eld said.

"Consider it an apology for what happened." Petra said.

"Um thanks I guess?" Eren asked confused. He was relieved that everything worked out but it had been an eventful day to say the least.

**Theeeeeeere we go.**

**R&R everyone!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Gabriel liked being around Hanji, her goofy attitude always made him laugh. She was definitely a far cry away from the grumpy Levi. She had come to him to apologize for not being able to help him during the clean up operation and Gabriel was quick to forgive her. Hanji was overjoyed to say the least and often talked to him about her dream of learning everything to know about the titans. He had made the mistake of asking her about her research despite numerous warnings from Eren who did the same thing, he was subject to hours and hours of scientific processes and words that he didn't understand but knew Hanji enjoyed talking about so he didn't want to hurt her feelings. When the two Titan test subjects had been murdered by an unknown assailant, Hanji had become a wreck. Gabriel was exonerated from suspicion due to him being present at Scout Regiments old headquarters. He couldn't figure out why Hanji was so upset, Gabriel did feel guilty whenever he killed a Titan but even he understood it was either kill or die.

He had gone out to town to find something to cheer her up. He found an ugly looking Titan doll in a shop and purchased it. He then walked back to HQ when he saw a group of children playing.

"Wow look it's a Scout!" One of them said pointing to Gabriel.

"He's the really strong one that helped Captain Levi! He's sooo cool!" Another said. Gabriel smiled and waved to them as their parents quickly came over and grabbed their child's hands.

"No, the scouts are not cool, they are reckless and a waste of money!" The father said. "There is nothing beyond those walls for us!" Gabriel frowned hearing those words. That wasn't very nice of him. Gabriel sighed as he finally approached HQ and made his way to Hanjis office. He could hear her still sobbing over Sonny and Bean, her titans she had been experimenting on. Gabriel knocked one the door and waited.

"Come in!" He heard Hanji reply. Gabriel opened the door and saw a desk full of papers and random assortments of scientific equipment spread throughout the room. "Oh Heimer! Good evening!"

"G-good e-evening." He replied as he observed the mess. It was the polar opposite of Levi's office which he kept so clean a surgery could be performed without risk of infection. "H-how a-are y-you?"

"Ugh honestly not good." Hanji said sitting down as she poured herself a glass of the bad juice Gabriel remembered his father would drink. Gabriel uncomfortably watched her take a sip.

"I'd offer you one but you're not old enough." Hanji said before noting the scared look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

"A-are y-you g-gonna y-yell at m-m-me?" Gabriel said twitching in nervousness.

"Of course not why would I-" Hanji said.

_His father was an alcoholic, he would abuse and beat him in his stupors. _Hanji quickly dumped out the rest of the glass and hid the bottle remembering Gabriel had a very bad experience with alcohol. "I'm sorry Heimer, I forgot that this doesn't bring good memories."

"D-daddy s-said h-he l-loved me a-and t-t-then w-would h-hit a-a-a-and y-yell a-at m-m-me w-ehh h-he h-h-had t-the b-bad j-j-juice." Gabriel said. Hanji sighed, how cruel to tell your only child you loved them only to drink and then abuse them.

"Well deep down he cared for you." Hanji lied. Gabriel had the mindset of a child and she wanted him to feel better. As an adult she knew better than to believe those with anger and alcoholic abuse issue actually cared for those around them more than their addiction. "Sometimes people are just really sad and they don't realize what they are doing."

"W-well h-he m-m-missed m-mommy." Gabriel said referring to his mother. Hanji remembered Erwin saying how his mother died during childbirth.

"I'm sure your mother would be really proud to see you now." Hanji said trying to console him.

"S-she w-was r-r-really p-pretty." Gabriel said recalling old portraits he saw of her as a child. Hanji, being at child bearing age for awhile now, always wondered what it'd be like to be a mother but her life called her to something else. She knew how much children needed their parents love and support, for him to grow up in such a sad household and still be this kind was impressive. "A-are y-you a m-mommy?" He asked her. Hanji raised her eyebrows at the question.

"Me? Oh no." Hanji said laughing. "Being in the Scouts makes it hard to have a family." She was correct, very few Scouts, if any that was, had a family waiting at home for them. Yes Scouts had parents and siblings but none could allow themselves the emotional baggage of having children waiting for them. This line of work demanded they be ready to lay down their lives at any moment and no one wanted to leave their children fatherless or motherless.

"B-but y-you're s-so p-pretty, a-and y-you'd m-make a g-good m-mommy." Gabriel said in all honesty, Hanji was appalled, not in a negative way but for his comment. She cared very little for her appearance, often going days without bathing and barely doing her hair much to Levi's chagrin, who was a neat freak and had been known to forcibly clean her on many occasions.

"Why do you say that?" Hanji asked intrigued. She didn't know why but the mention of having children had her interested. Perhaps it was her internal instinct and the fact her biological clock was ticking.

"Y-you're r-really n-nice t-to t-titans." Gabriel said. "If y-you're t-that n-nice t-to t-them, y-you'd b-be r-really n-nice t-to k-kids."

"Gabriel, sometimes people just don't have children." Hanji explained. This was true, before Wall Maria fell, people were often allowed to have as many children as they wanted but now that a third of the land humanity once had is now gone, families were limited to at a max two children. "Besides after losing my Sonny and Bean I couldn't bear the struggle of motherhood!" She suddenly blurred out in a complete reversal of her mood.

"O-oh I-I f-forgot!" Gabriel said reaching into his bag. He fumbled going through other supplies till he reached what he was looking for. Hanji looked in confusion as Gabriel pulled out a Titan doll. Many found the Titan dolls to be repulsive, especially those who had seen the monster first hand, but there was always someone willing to buy them which explained why it was even up for sale in the first place. Hanji was one such customer but never got around to town much due to constantly being in her makeshift lab.

"Ooooooooooooh!" Hanji squealed. "He's adorable!"

"I g-got I-I-it f-for y-you." Gabriel said holding the doll out to her. Hanjis eyes widened. She had heard from many that Gabriel was known to buy gifts for people when they were upset. He had gotten dumbbells for Reiner, a hoodie for Annie, books for Armin, a brush for Mikasa and so forth.

"Oh Gabriel I don't know what to say!" Hanji said excitedly grabbing the doll and holding it to her cheek. "Look at this handsome boy!" She said in a way a mother would to a newborn child. Gabriel was happy to see she liked it. Normally new recruits giving officers gifts was frowned upon as it was viewed as an attempt to brown nose but Gabriel was an exception. "Of course I love it but why did you buy it for me?"

"Y-you w-were s-was about S-Sunny aa-and B-Been." Gabriel said mispronouncing the titans names. "I-I t-thought I-it w-would c-cheer y-you up!"

"That was so nice of you!" Hanji said cuddling the Titan doll. Such random acts of kindness were rare these days. "Having you here gives me hope for the future!"

"R-really?" Gabriel asked excited.

"Yup! With your help we will get more Titan captures!" Hanji cheered much to Gabriel's dismay. He had had enough of titans for a lifetime.

**Xxxx**

"So what do you all think?" Reiner asked in the hall of the Survey Corps main base. After they all chose the Scout Regiment they were all stationed there for further training.

"I like the idea but what would we get him?" Connie asked. Gabriel's birthday was the next day and they had gotten permission for him to have the day off so he could come see them. They all wanted to have a surprise party for him.

"Beats me." Jean said standing up as he looked to Armin. "What does he like?"

"Well honestly, I'm not sure." Armin said embarrassed. Being his brother he should know better than anyone what Gabriel would like as a present. "For his birthdays in the past when I asked he always said the same thing, he wanted to spend the day with his family and buddies."

"Of course." Reiner laughed. "Seriously though we have to give him something!"

"How about a journal?" Christa suggested. "He likes to draw."

"Oh um-" Sasha peeped up. "I actually already got him one…."

"Really?" Christa asked.

"He's done so much for me I wanted to give him something." Sasha said embarrassed. She thanked the heavens Ymir wasn't around to hear that. Ymir still was in trouble for getting her so drunk that night. Sasha has woken up with the worst headache of her life and filled with shame for saying she wanted to "fuck Gabriel's goddamn brains out!"

"That's fine, we just do to think of something else." Reiner said as he pondered. "Now that I think about it, he isn't the easiest person to buy a present for."

"That's because he's already happy with what he has." Mikasa piped up to everyone's shock. She had been mostly quiet due to worrying about Eren. "He isn't like most people who always want more, he was always so happy and grateful for what he had." She continued. The group nodded at this, Gabriel had lost everything when Wall Maria fell, because of that he learned to cherish what he already had instead of wanting more. "All he wants is for everyone to be happy."

"Well maybe we could donate to some charity for him?" Connie suggested.

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard." Jean said. "The point of a birthday is to give that person a gift! Not to someone else!"

"Well I don't see you coming up with any ideas!" Connie retorted. The group snickered as th two argued.

"Has he ever mentioned wanting anything else?" Bertholdt finally asked.

"Well he said he would like to get married and have a lot of kids one day." Armin said. "Not that we could really do that.

"Well we could always find him a prostitute." Reiner joked. "Guy like him needs to get some action." Most people laughed at his joke but Sasha felt massive surges of jealousy grow within. The thought of him being with another woman made her angry. She didn't know why at first but remembered it was because she had fallen for him. Just being around him made her feel safe and happy. He could always cheer up anyone. She sighed, wondering if he felt the same or if he was even capable of understanding romantic love. His heart was so big she wasn't sure he could invest it on just her. She sat pondering as the rest of the group tried to figure out what to get him till Armin settles on an idea.

"A portrait of all of us." Armin explained. "So he knows that he's never alone and that we will always be beside him."

"That's actually a good idea." Jean said. The group went on to plan out food and decorations as Sasha inched over to Mikasa who sat expressionless as usual.

"Hey um Mikasa?" Sasha tenderly squeaked out. She had always been terrified of her, her skill, strength, and desire to maim all those who harmed Eren made her intimidating.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Can I talk to you? It's about Gabriel." Sasha explained. Mikasa turned to her and let out a very faint smile.

"Yes." She accepted.

"Can we go somewhere private?" Sasha asked turning red. "I need your help."

"Of course." Mikasa said as the two girls left the arguing group. They stepped into another room where no one was present. "What do you need?"

"Well it's about Gabriel, I just- I don't know- I can't- I LIKE HIM!" She finally blurred out much to Mikasa's amusement. Sasha expected a blow to the head, aside from Eren and Armin, Mikasa was very protective of Gabriel as well due to his handicap making him a target for people to exploit and manipulate.

"Well? Everyone likes him." Mikasa replied.

"I know but I really like him!" Sasha said. This was so embarrassing! "When I'm with him I just feel so happy, I always want to be around him and I just- I don't know!"

"Sasha, do you love him?" Mikasa asked as Sasha gasped out loud. Mikasa knew Gabriel really held Sasha in high regard. He was constantly talking about how pretty and brave she was.

"Please don't tell anyone!" Sasha begged. Ymir knowing was already had enough.

"I'm not sure what you need my help with." Mikasa replied.

"Well I thought since you like Eren you'd relate to me on this." Sasha confessed as Mikasa gasped.

"Eren? I-I-" Mikasa said turning away flushing red. Sasha was shocked, she never saw Mikasa like this, she was always so calm and level headed, but then again it was involving Eren after all.

"You can talk to me about it if you want." Sasha offered. "It's only fair I help you out too."

"Really?" Mikasa asked. Her and Sasha while not on bad terms, had not been close either.

"Well yeah, it's nice to have another girl to talk to." Sasha explained. She mostly was around Connie, Jean, and Gabriel. She talked with Christa from time to time but found Ymir and Annie rather unapproachable.

"Thank you Sasha." Mikasa said smiling. She had always been around boys all the time since she was a kid, it would be nice to have another girl to talk to. "And yes, I do like Eren but he doesn't feel the same way about me, I just want to live a peaceful life with him."

"Maybe he does but he just doesn't know how to show it?" Sasha suggested. She had seen how aggravated and down right mean Eren would be to Mikasa when she tried to help him. Sasha wasn't particularly close with Eren but she knew he was such an angry kid, she had never seen someone so full of rage in her life. She couldn't blame him though, he and Gabriel suffered the worst when Wall Maria fell. "He's just so focused on beating the titans and with this Titan power he has now he has a lot on his plate, I'm sure once everything calms down a bit, he'll see how much you mean to him."

"Thanks Sasha." Mikasa said. She never thought of how much Eren had on his plate, maybe she was right, maybe when all this was over…

Provided of course they survive to see that day.

"So Um about Gabriel-" Sasha said.

"Oh yes, what would you like to know?" Mikasa asked.

"Well does he, how do I put this-" Sasha said twiddling her thumbs. "Does he understand romantic feelings?" Mikasa pondered, as long as she had known him he never seemed to have a desire for sexual intimacy or romance. He talked about wanting to get married and have kids but she doubted he knew the specifics.

"I think-" Mikasa said. "He just loves everything too much to really focus on one person like that." Sasha sighed in disappointment. "But he may surprise you, he does talk about you a lot."

"R-really?" Sasha asked flustered. "W-what does he say?!"

"He says you're the prettiest girl he's ever seen." Mikasa said as Sasha nearly died of embarrassment. "He also says how you're nice and very brave, he also-"

**Flashback**

"T-there y-you g-go!" Gabriel said as he finished drawing Mikasa who opted not to smile for her portrait. He handed his drawing to Mikasa who had to force herself not to react to the awful drawing. The closer she looked, the more odd details she saw like a third arm and _a tail?_

"Thank you, it's gorgeous." Mikasa complimented. The drawing really was awful, one of the worst attempts at a portrait she had ever seen but she knew he worked hard and that he liked drawing.

"T-thanks! S-Sasha l-l-liked h-hers t-t-too." Gabriel said. Mikasa could only imagine Sashas reaction to her portrait.

"When did you draw her?" Mikasa asked.

"Oh u-um, b-before t-the t-t-Titan b-bitey m-mission. Gabriel said nervously. He liked to not remember the day he almost become a high protein snack. "I-I d-drew h-h-her a-a-and s-spent t-t-the d-day w-with h-h-her." Mikasa noticed the smile on his face at that last part.

"What did you guys do?" Mikasa asked. She liked hearing about his day.

"W-we w-went t-t-to t-town a-and t-then w-w-we g-g-got a d-drink! A-a-a-and w-we-ummmmm." He said flaring red.

"And what?" Mikasa asked curiosity wondering why he had stopped.

"Y-you w-won't g-g-get m-mad r-right?" He asked feebishly twiddling his fingers.

"Of course not." She replied.

"W-well we w-went o-on t-the w-walls a-and h-held h-h-hands…." Gabriel finally blurted. Mikasa couldn't help but laugh at how nervous he was confessing something so little.

"Why would I get mad?" She asked. "That was sweet."

"C-cause I-I-I g-got y-yelled a-at w-when e-everyone t-thought w-w-we t-touched p-privates." Gabriel said. Mikasa let out another light giggle remembering that day.

"This is different, you just held hands." Mikasa said. "Gabriel do you like her?"

"Oh w-well ummmmmmmmm." He said starting to sweat. Mikasa picked up on his hesitation to answer and knew the answer was yes. She wondered why he picked Sasha, not that she was mean or bad looking but there were so many girls that liked him. "I-I g-guess!"

"You guess?" Mikasa asked.

"S-she's s-super pretty and n-nice, a-a-and s-she I-is r-really b-brave!" Gabriel praised. He spent the next several minutes praising Sasha.

"Would you want to marry her?" Mikasa asked knowing how much Gabriel wanted to have a family of his own.

"Um." He said sadly. "I-I'm t-too d-dumb."

"Gabriel." Mikasa said, her heart ripping in two.

"I-I'm s-s-so d-d-dumb." He said sniffling. He internally had a deep and severe self loathing of his low intelligence. One could say aside from the Armored Titan, the only person he hated was himself. He knew he was different from everyone else, he just wished he could be smart so he could be the best he could. "E-everyone s-said I-I-id b-be t-too s-stupid t-to d-do a-a-anything! W-why w-would s-she w-w-want m-me?"

"But look at you now, you have so many friends who care about you, you saved so many people at Trost." Mikasa said hugging him. Seeing him so beaten down by something he had no control over was so disheartening. "No one thinks your dumb, everyone likes you." She comforted as she ran her hands down his back. "Sasha would never hate you for such a small thing, and neither would anyone else."

"R-really?" Gabriel asked her.

"Yes, you're so kind to everyone, you always try to help people with no expectation of repayment. I wish more people like you were around." Mikasa said heartfully. She always wondered, if more people had Gabriel's kindness, how much better off everyone would be. He was so upset about his handicap but she never knew he hated himself that much because of it."

"W-well-" He said cheering up. "M-maybe o-one day s-she w-would l-like m-me t-too!"

**End of flashback**

"Mikasa?" Sasha asked noting Mikasa had gone blank.

"Oh! Sorry!" Mikasa responded as she came back to the present. Part of her wanted to tell Sasha Gabriel also liked her but another part of her told her that she should let them learn themselves.

That part won over in the end.

"I think he is capable of loving someone like that." Mikasa said. "You just have to show him you feel the same way."

"Really?" Sasha said excitedly. She really did care form him deep down.

"Just one thing." Mikasa said.

"Yeah?!" Sasha asked excitedly.

"If you break his heart, or hurt him in any way." Mikasa said as she glared darkly. "I'll come for you." Sasha nearly fainted at the threat.

**Enjoy readers!**

**R&R!**


	18. Chapter 18

**GAME SPOILERS! DO NOT READ PAST THIS UNLESS YOU PLAYED THE GAME OR DON'T CARE FOR SPOILERS!**

**Given in the game how our character dies at the end, well I guess you'll have to wait and see if send Gabriel off or decide to let him live.**

Chapter 18.

"Alright that's enough." Levi said as Gabriel landed on the ground huffing and puffing. He stumbled slightly from spinning but still proceeded to fall towards a tree. "You're getting better, but you still have a ways to go, I need you to perfect this technique if you are to take up my title understand?"

"Y-yes s-sir!" Gabriel said clutching his head which had fallen victim to the dizziness associated with the spin maneuver.

"Normally I'd have you for another hour but Commander Erwin ordered me to let you out early today." Levi explained.

"B-b-but w-why?" Gabriel asked seemingly distraught.

"Why? Prefer to get your shit knocked loose?" Levi taunted.

"I-I j-j-just l-like s-spending t-t-time w-with y-y-you." Gabriel said rubbing the back of his head. This caught Levi off guard, was he supposed to be like this brats friend?

"You are an enlisted soldier, I'm an officer, I am not your friend do you understand that?" Levi stated. Fraternization was very frowned upon.

"Y-yeah." Gabriel said sadly.

"Good, now get cleaned off and go do what you want, tomorrow also so happens to be your day off so report back here on Tuesday at 0800. Do whatever you want with your time off just stay out of trouble." Levi ordered. Gabriel nodded as she ran off to get cleaned up as Levi made his way to Hanji who had Eren held ransom for more experimentation. He walked in to see Hanji shrieking and Eren with a look of despair on his face, clearly terrified of the mad scientists tests and experiments.

"Now Eren!" Hanji proclaimed. "I wonder if you could regenerate if you were to be disemboweled? My guess is as long as your brain stays intact you can regenerate anything!"

"W-Wait Hanji no!" Eren cried. This lady was nuts!

"I'm only kidding Eren!" Hanji laughed. Eren let out a sigh of relief but wouldn't be shocked if deep down, the section Commander really wanted to test the limits of his regeneration.

"Hey." Levi said making his presence known. Eren turned gratefully to his savior. "Brat, you have the night off."

"What?" Eren asked confused.

"You heard me, Commander Erwin said you have the night off." Levi replied.

"What?" Hanji cried. "But we have so much more to do!"

"You've been running him to ground for weeks, he needs at least one night off." Levi replied. He didn't know why Erwin demanded these two have the day off given the responsibilities these two had, leisure time was a sacrifice they both made when they joined the military. Levi knew Erwin had his reasons and that was good enough for him. Eren grabbed all his gear as Hanji moaned in disappointment. Levi notes how frantic Eren was to get out of there but figured it was because Hanji was torturing him with her science shit all day. Levi made his way to his office when he looked out the window and saw Petra handing Gabriel a ball. Levi raised an eyebrow, he knew Petra was close to him but why give him a ball? She was enlisted like Gabriel so there wasn't a legal issue there but his curiosity got the better of him. He walked downstairs to find Petra who was humming to herself.

"Good evening Captain!" She said giddily.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Levi asked.

"Nothing it's just-." Petra said looking out the doorway to see Gabriel. "He's just the sweetest thing."

"Ah." Levi noted. "Why exactly did you give him a ball?"

"Oh, tomorrow is his birthday." Petra said. "I wanted to give him a gift since I won't see him tomorrow."

"Birthday?" Levi said. His squad usually all pitched in for gifts for each other on their birthdays. "Did everyone else get him one too?"

"Yeah, Oluo, Eld, and Gunther all got him stuff too." Petra explained. Levi sighed, now he had to do something for Gabriel.

"He looks lonely." Petra said sadly. Levi looked back out the window and saw Gabriel by himself tossing the ball in the air. Levi sighed as he began to walk outside.

"Captain?" Petra asked.

"Not a word of this to anyone, I didn't get him a gift so I figure I'll indulge his loneliness." Levi said as he exited the building. Gabriel stood sadly tossing his ball to himself. He wished he had someone to play with.

"Heimer." Gabriel turned his head to see Levi approaching him. Gabriel quickly stood up.

"Sir!" He said. Levi raised his hand to an open palm.

"Toss it." Levi said. Gabriel let out a whimper. Miss Petra had got this for him!"

"B-b-but M-Miss P-Petra g-gave m-me this!" Gabriel cried, he didn't want to lose his present!

"I'm not taking it, I'm asking you to toss it to me." Levi replied. Gabriel looked confused as he tossed the ball to Levi. He put a little too much strength into it because a loud resounding smack was heard as it hit Levi's palm.

"_Dammit, that hurt." _He thought as he winced in pain. He then threw the ball back to Gabriel who wasn't paying attention as he spotted a caterpillar crawling nearby.

"Heimer!" Levi called. Gabriel raised his head as the ball smacked him in the nose.

"Ow!" He moaned as he grabbed his now bleeding nose. Levi grunted as Gabriel stood up.

"W-why d-did y-you t-t-throw it a-at m-me?" Gabriel said, his feelings clearly hurt.

"I was tossing it back, you were supposed to catch it!" Levi retorted. "That's what this is, we throw the ball to each other!"

"Huh?" Gabriel asked as his face turned to a bright smile. "Oh I-I g-g-get it!" The two continued to play catch for forty five minutes as Gabriel had the time of his life. He would have never thought he'd get to play with his hero!

"Alright it's getting dark soon." Levi said. "I'm heading in."

"Oohhhh." Gabriel whined, he was having so much fun.

"Remember, be back here on Tuesday by 8 am sharp!" Levi ordered.

"Y-yes s-sir!" Gabriel said putting his ball away and began to head to Trost.

"And Heimer?" Levi called back. Gabriel turned to see his Captain again. "Happy Birthday."

**Xxxx**

Gabriel arrived at the Trost Barracks hoping to see his friends. He was still happy he got to hang out with Superman. He yawned loudly as he was tired from the training today. He opened the door to see all his friends holding drinks.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" They all cheered.

"WAAHAHA!" Gabriel comically yelled out of surprise. He had also jumped due to the scare and hit his head on the doorway. "OWIE!" He felt two hands grab his as he opened his eyes to see Eren and Armin pulling him in.

"W-what's g-going o-on?" Gabriel asked confused.

"It's your birthday! We're having a party for you!" Eren said.

"B-but m-my b-birthdays t-t-tomorrow." Gabriel pointed out.

"Well we're gonna celebrate it tonight." Armin replied as Gabriel sat down with everyone. They laughed and ate as Gabriel gave hugs to everyone. They played simple party games like pin the tail on the donkey. Gabriel had been blindfolded and accidently stabbed Jean in the ass with the pin much to Erens delight. Gabriel arm wrestled with Reiner who was beaten with ease as Reiner gently rubbed his aching wrist. He picked up Christa and Connie over his head with his immense strength and twirled around with them.

"We got you a gift." Reiner said as Bertholdt brought over a wrapped package. Gabriel's eyes widened seeing the present. "W-wow w-what I-is I-i-it?"

"You have to open it to find out." Ymir said. Gabriel took the small gift and unwrapped it to see a small locket. He opened it to find a portrait of him and all his friends together. His eyes widened as a bright smile lit up his face. "F-for me?" He asked.

"Happy birthday bud!" Reiner said as Gabriel jumped up and down in excitement.

"T-thanks y-you g-g-guys!" He said as he put the locket on. "I-I'll n-never l-let I-I-it g-go!" After continuing to have fun and talk for a few hours he then decided to take a quick break and sat in the corner. He was still very tired from training today. He stretched his limbs out and felt his hand touch something.

"Huh?" He looked to see a shocked Sasha who's breast he had accidently touched. Gabriel's face turned red as he quickly pulled his hand away. "I-I'm s-sorry!"

"It's okay." Sasha replied sitting next to him. Truth be told, she had actually liked feeling his hand on her but was too shy to admit it. "Are you having fun?"

"Y-yeah!" Gabriel said with a smile. Sasha was calculating in her mind how to get closer to him. She wanted to touch him, she wanted him to run his hands over her. She could feel warmth and strength emanating from his body. She then had an idea as she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head into his chest.

"S-Sasha?" He asked.

"Your birthday hug." She said snuggling her head into his broad chest. She felt so warm and didn't want to leave.

"Y-you're t-the b-best!" Gabriel said returning the hug. Sasha wanted to tell him how she felt, especially now that she had Mikasa's approval. Part of her felt guilty, he had the mind of a child, she didn't want to seem like a pedophile. Also, her courage failed in the end as they just sat there in silence and content.

The day was finally here, the day of the 57th expedition beyond the walls. After a month of supplementary training on the long range scouting formation, the Survey Corps proudly marched towards the gate, Trost was sealed forever so they had to go to western district to depart. The Scouts were feeling confident today, with Eren, they would be able to make a huge leap. Gabriel hummed to himself as his horse awaited in formation. He had been assigned to a right wing squad. Civilians gathered about to send the Survey Corps off, they were mostly family members and friends.

"SCOUTS MOVE OUT!" Erwin yelled as the Scouts let out a fierce battle cry, they charged forward full of courage and hope, with Eren there, they would finally make due on the debt they owed humanity. Gabriel felt the wind rush past his ears as they came into a desolated small town. He could hear titans incoming and looked to see several scouts engaging them with support from the Garrison. He wanted to help but an arm stopped him.

"Don't, they're doing their job so we can do ours." The scout said. Gabriel sighed as he continued to push forward. The Scouts then broke up into their long range formation as Gabriel darted to the right. He let his senses take over, scanning the horizon for any approaching titans. Being on the outside of the right wing meant he'd likely encounter one. He was shocked to see after quite a while, it was mostly silent. He started to zone out thinking about his friends and if they were okay before he remembered what happened last time he lost focus and quickly regained his bearings. He heard the sound of a smoke signal go off as red smoke covered the air.

"Titans to the west! Four of em!"

"Wait there's six!"

"Now there's twenty! How?" Gabriel gulped, this wasn't good. He went to pull out his blades when he was blindsided by a large leg. Gabriel looked to see a skinless titan with blonde hair sprinting past him. The Titan looked so human like, even more so than normal. He didn't have time to dwell on it as there was suddenly over thirty titans hounding down on his position.

"Heimer! Chase that abnormal! Well handle these!" A Scout called as he took down a ten meter.

"B-but t-there's s-so m-many! Y-you n-need he-" Gabriel tried to say.

"That abnormal led them here! You need to take it down! That's an order!" He yelled as three Scouts fell to their deaths in the maw of the titans mouths. Gabriel closed his watery eyes as he pulled his horse left to chase the skinless Titan. He could hear the cries of pain and terror of those behind. He could see yellow signals arching through the sky meaning they were in big trouble. He wanted to help them but the new Titan was heading right toward Eren! He couldn't let him die!

"I-I S-S-SORRY!" He choked out. He didn't dare look back behind him. The absence of any human noise indicated the worst had happened. He wiped away some tears from his eye as he closed in on the abnormal. He then noticed said abnormal appeared to be a she given the feminine body shape. He had never seen a girl Titan before, he would have to tell Commander Pyxis about this one! The female titan began to pick up speed to the point the horse could not keep up. Gabriel approached a hilly forested area and lost sight of her over the horizon.

"C-crap!" He yelled. He had to get this Titan for everyone that died back there. He could vaguely make out the female titans figure in the far distance as he shot off full speed on his horse. She was already so far away. He continued to ride as he passed several corpses that had been smashed into the ground, they had not been bitten, their bodies were splattered like they were a fruit someone stepped on. Gabriel figured this had to be the female titans doing. After chasing her escaping figure for what seemed like hours he saw she came to a stop in a small village. He also saw three scouts engaging her. He got ready as he jumped off his horse to go help fight here. He wasn't quick enough as the female titan had squished and stomped two of the scouts already. The third one in her hands screaming for his life.

"N-NO! D-DONT!" Gabriel screamed frantically as the scouts screams were silenced as the female titan squished him to death in her palms. Gabriel was starting to get mad now, he approached from behind at full speed.

"I-ILL G-GET YOU!" Gabriel yelled. The female titan turned her head just to see a blur. The Titan felt it's skin tear at the side of her neck. Had she not turned, he would have hit her nape. This scout had come in so fast she didn't have time to harden her skin. The female titan then grabbed the anchor wire she saw suspended in the air and yanked it. Gabriel felt his motion come to a stop as a painful yank pulled him to the side. He looked up to see the vicious blue eyes of the female titan dangling him in front of her like a toy. Gabriel then noticed when the Titan saw him, her eyes seemed to change from viciousness to shock. He was scared now, he was helpless with her holding his wire like that! He was also wondering why the Titan hadn't killed him yet, not that he wasn't grateful for the delay. Gabriel then cut his anchor that was being held and fired his other into the females collarbone to escape. He thought he succeeded when he felt the hand of the Titan grab him firmly.

"AHHHHH!" He yelled. He tried to break free but even with his strength there was no way he was escaping the grip of titan this big. He began to panic as he tried with all his strength to break free but the grip was much too powerful. Was this it for him? The female brought her hand holding him to her face as a look of sadness seemed to roll over the skinless face. Gabriel continued to scream and grunt, he couldn't die here! He wanted to see his friends again! Everyone had been relying on him. His heart stopped when he saw the female titan open her mouth revealing teeth capable of biting a person in half. Now he was hysterical, he began to bite at the flesh on the fingers holding him, doing anything in his power to escape. His eyes dilated as he went into rage using strength he didn't know he had. He could feel the fingers on the grip begin to loosen but alas, this Titan was too big and strong.

"**AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA**" He screamed as the Titan brought him into her mouth. The brightness of the sun disappeared as a repugnant stench filled his nostrils. He could feel the slimy wet tongue of the Titan brush up against him. He realized this was it, the Titan was going to eat him.

"_Eren! Armin! Mik! Sasha! Superman! I'm sorry! I tried my best! Please don't be sad that I'm gone!" _He waited for the feeling of the titans teeth to come down and crunch his abdomen in half but it never came. He then felt the disgusting tongue move his body to the side of her cheek outside of the teeth. What was going on? Why wasn't she eating him? He then felt vibrations as the Titan started running again. He could barely breathe in here, the smell and humidity were awful. He became drenched in sweat from the heat. He then used his blades to try cutting through the cheek, if the titan decided not to eat him yet, then head going to use this as a chance to escape. He continued to hack away through the thick meaty flesh of the Titans cheek. The female titan must have figured out what he was doing since the teeth opened up and the tongue pushed him into the middle of her mouth where she slammed her teeth shut, his blades wouldn't be able to cut through the teeth. He looked behind him and saw the chasm that led to the titans stomach. Gabriel gulped knowing if he went down there he was as good as dead, doomed to slowly burn away in stomach acid only to be vomited out later once the stomach chamber was full. The tongue moved once again this time pinning him underneath it so he couldn't move. He almost threw up from the smell and sight of thick gooey saliva. He suddenly felt a cool breeze of fresh air and immediately inhaled. The cool fresh air alleviated his lungs of the humid stale air he had been breathing. He then saw that the titans mouth was open to allow air inside.

"_Is she not going to kill me?" _Gabriel pondered. Even he could figure that if this Titan wanted him dead then he'd be dead already. While he could escape from being underneath the tongue if he wanted, he didn't want to risk losing his footing and falling into the Titans stomach. He sighed as he decided to hold off until he could figure out what the titans intentions were. After some time, the Titans mouth opened all the way and Gabriel felt his body being forced out by the tongue. He hit the ground hard covered in saliva and gasping for air. He looked up to see the female titan, was she, _smiling _at him? He didn't have time to ponder as she took off again. He was about to chase after her when he heard horses coming up and saw Jean, Armin, Reiner, and Christa all arrive.

"Heimer!" Jean called out. Gabriel raised his hand to wave to him as they came up.

"Ugh you reek!" Reiner said, holding his nose. "Why are you soaking wet?"

"W-well-" Gabriel said not knowing how to explain what just happened.

**R&R!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Armin had to clear his ears out just to make sure he heard Gabriel correctly.

"You were _in _that things mouth?" Jean yelled out disgusted.

"Gabriel! I'm so glad you're okay!" Christa sand hugging Gabriel tightly, not caring he was covered in Titan saliva. Gabriel let out a small smile as he hugged her back and petted her on the head.

"Okay that's just fucking nasty." Jean said gagging.

"T-the r-right w-wing, a-are t-they o-okay?" Gabriel asked fearing the worst.

"They were wiped out, they were blindsided by titans." Armin said sadly. Gabriel whimpered as he lowered his head.

"Hey don't beat yourself up over it, you did what you were told to, it's not your fault." Reiner comforted. He knew how awful Gabriel must have felt right now.

"B-but I-I c-could h-have h-helped!" Gabriel sniffled as Christa gave him a comforting hug.

"I know," Christa kindly said. "It's awful I know but you did the right thing by following orders."

"It's up to us now to go get that bitch." Reiner said. "Besides, I want another look at that ass."

"Really Reiner?" Jean said rolling his eyes. "After she almost killed you?"

"Hey come on, how often do you see a titan with a nice ass?" Reiner said laughing as Gabriel chuckled a bit. Jean picked up on what Reiner was doing and decided to go along with it.

"Yeah yeah, for the record I'm calling you 'Titan Fucker' from now on." Jean said as Gabriel burst out laughing from the joke.

"Let's get moving, we don't want to get left behind." Armin said.

"O-okay, b-but t-there's o-only t-theee h-horsies."

Gabriel said. He was worried about his own horse but he had been assured they were trained to make their way back to the walls if they got lost, also the titans wouldn't bother the horse since they only ate humans.

"Ugh sorry but there's no way you're touching me covered in that nasty shit!" Jean said bluntly.

"I'd take you on mine but our combined weight will slow him down." Reiner explained.

"Oh um you can ride with me." Christa offered. Gabriel turned red thinking how he'd have to wrap his arms around her.

"U-uh!" Gabriel stuttered nervously.

"Gabriel you can ride with me." Armin said.

"O-okay!" Gabriel said getting on Armins horse. The three took off as Armin did a lot of thinking.

"_I wasn't sure before but now I know, she's like Eren, there's a human controlling the female titan. She protected her nape and didn't eat anyone, then she seemed to recognize Gabriel and safety carried him and let him live. This person is definitely someone we know, but who? Who would betray us like this?_" Armin thought as Reiner rose behind with an irritated look on his face.

**Xxx**

Gabriel and company eventually arrived at a large forest of very tall trees. They could see dozens of scouts on the trees and flying around patrolling the area. This must have been a rally point. They approached the forest edge when Jean spotted a small pond.

"Hey Gabriel, no offense but you really really fucking smell, you should go in that pond and get cleaned off." Jean said. He rode behind Armin and Gabriel and the stench of Titan morning breath had been plaguing him the whole ride.

"You should also get some new gear, you only have one anchor." Armin suggested. Gabriel nodded as he hopped off and went into the pond to quickly drench himself to get rid off the Titan saliva. Once he was cleaned off he got out and approached a supply wagon to get new gear. Once he did that he received orders to get into the trees and not allow any titans to get in. He came up to see Connie, Mikasa, Ymir, Berthodlt and Sasha whom were all overjoyed to see him.

"Hey Gabe! You're- Holy shit! What is that smell!?" Connie yelled covering his nose.

"Damn it Heimer do you have Gingivitus or something?" Ymir said. "I can smell morning breath from here."

"Ugh didn't you clean off?" Jean complained.

"G-guess I-I d-don't d-do a g-good j-job." Gabriel chuckled.

"Well if you wanna what that smell is, it's the smell of Titan breath." Armin said.

"What do you mean?" Berthodlt asked. "Don't tell me!"

"Yeah, a Titan gave Heimer here a full on mouth to mouth." Reiner joked slapping Heimer on the back.

"WHAT?!" Connie yelled. "You almost got eaten?"

"Y-yeah." Gabriel said not wanting to remember that disgusting experience. Mikasa immediately ran to him to see if he was okay.

"Gabriel! Are you okay?" Mikasa asked checking him for any wounds.

"Y-yeah, t-the t-Titan d-didn't w-want t-t-to h-hurt m-me." Gabriel explained.

"What are you talking about?" Berthodlt asked.

"There's an abnormal that's been causing a lot of trouble, she's intelligent, she protected her nape and killed, not to eat, but killed anyone who attacked her. For some reason she put Gabriel in her mouth and carried him to where someone would come up and she spit him out and then ran off." Armin explained.

"Ugh that's so fucking nasty!" Connie said turning green.

"What do you mean she?" Ymir asked.

"That Titan was female." Armin said.

"How do you know?" Mikasa asked.

"C-cause s-she had b-boobies." Gabriel said causing a small chuckle to escape everyone's mouth. "Reiner l-liked h-her b-b-butt!"

"Yeah can we not talk about that?" Reiner embarrassingly said.

"Sure thing, Titan Fucker." Jean said.

"If any of you guys run into her, trust me, you'll know when you see her, don't attack her." Armin said getting back to serious business. "She killed multiple scouts and knows how to protect her weak spots."

"Well what are we supposed to do? Just let her run rampant then?" Connie asked.

"No, when the time comes." Armin said looking to Mikasa. "You should be able to take her out, if not, Captain Levi will have no problem doing it." The group nodded in acknowledgment, how terrifying was this Titan that they had to rely on Captain Levi to kill it?

"S-Sasha!" Gabriel said seeing his favorite brunette.

"Gabriel!" She whimpered seeing him. She was so glad he was alive but how much longer was his luck going to hold out? First the Titan that bit his arm and now this?

"Uh guys!" Jean yelled. Everyone looked to see a large group or titans attempting to reach into the trees to grab a snack.

"Can't you ugly bastards give us a break?" Reiner asked. This had been a rough day indeed.

"Remember, no titans can enter this forest, Commanders orders!" A scout office called from his beach. "Just leave them be for now if they aren't trying to go in!"

"Well I won't argue with that." Connie said sighing. "_I just wanna get the hell out of here!"_ He was interrupted by loud explosions.

"What the hell was that?" Ymir asked.

"Cannons maybe?" Bertholdt suggested.

"I didn't see us pulling any cannons, maybe we should go check it out-" Reiner tried to say.

"Hey! Your orders are to not let any titans in! Let the scouts in there handle what's going on!" The officer yelled again.

"I wonder what they're doing in there?" Sasha asked. They had not been debriefed on much considering this was their first expedition.

"I-I h-hope t-there o-okay!" Gabriel said. Eren was probably in there with Levi squad. They didn't have long to to think as a bloodcurdling roar echoed across the forest. It was very unpleasant to the ear, it was a high pitched haunting sound that caused goosebumps to run down everyone's neck.

"Okay! That was definitely not cannons!" Connie yelled. Gabriel felt thumping and looked down to see the titans that had been occupied on then suddenly began to fill out sprint into the forest. This was odd, these titans weren't abnormals since they had been waiting for one the scouts to fall.

"Shit!" The officer yelled. "Get as many as you can!" The scouts all nodded as they moved down to engage. Gabriel had taken out two titans when the officer stopped him. "They need you inside go now!" Gabriel was nervous, he didn't want to leave them to die again. "This is a direct order from Commander Erwin, if titans were to rush in for any reason he requested you move inside to help immediately! Go now!"

"Y-yes sir!" Gabriel began to go inside the forest, killing any titans that crossed his path. The sounds of ODM gear and Titan roars filled the forests. He wasn't exactly sure where to go but was informed to stay on the main path. He was stopped by multiple titans who seemed to now focus on him again. He spent ten minutes dispatching the ones attacking him and switched out his blades. He continued along the path as all was now silent. He looked around and around as he saw nothing but forest. Suddenly he saw a scout hanging from a tree. Whoever they were it looked like they were stuck.

"H-hey a-are y-you o-okay?" He asked as he came over. He gasped as he saw it was Gunther, a clean slash through his spinal cord which had killed him instantly.

"N-no G-Gunther!" Gabriel cried. He hugged the body and wiped his eyes. Gunther had been so nice to him! A loud explosion followed by a yellow light lit up the area. He could hear screaming as he took one last look at Gunther and used his fingers to close the fallen Scouts eyes. He continued forward when he saw, _her! _The Female Titan was here! She spit something out of her mouth, Gabriel turned to look and saw Elds upper body ripped apart at the abdomen, horror crawled across his body realizing she had bitten him in half. He didn't see Eren anywhere and could only see Petra and Oluo remaining. He decided he had to help them but in a matter of seconds, Petra was stomped against a tree, spreading blood on the trunk as Oluo was kicked, spraying his innards across the tree. Gabriel's world slowed as he saw the dead bodies of all of Levi squad. He hadn't known them long but they became a part of his life. Gabriel was fuming, she, _killed them! _She killed Ms Petra! He growled as he fired his hooks and charged fullspeed with a rigor to slice her to pieces. He didn't have time as another bright yellow explosion erupted causing Gabriel's anchors to fly off. He tried to fire it again but he was struck by the hand of the female titan as she got into her fighting stance. The force of the hit struck Gabriel hard as he began to fade out of consciousness. The last thing he saw as he fell was Erens Titan moving to attack the female.

**Xxx**

Gabriel came to and rubbed his aching head. He found himself in a deep narrow gulch. His face really hurt, hard dark bruises and dried blood caked his face. He slowly got up and tried to remember what happened. Once he remembered Eren was going to fight the Female he quickly drew his blades and observed the area but saw nothing. It was completely quiet, he frantically searched but saw nothing, he noticed it was noticeably darker than it had been before he went out. He looked up saw indeed he had been here for sometime.

"_Uh oh! Did they leave already?"_ He thought. Being out her alone with no horse was not a good thing. He sat down as he tried to figure out what to do. He then heard light groans of pain as he quickly stood back up. He scanned the area and identified it as a feminine voice. Could it be? He looked over the gap and saw a heavily bloodied Petra, she was still alive!

"M-m-ms Petra!" Gabriel cried as he ran to her. She didn't look good, her legs were both smashed and bloodied beyond recognition. She weakly wheezed, she was clearly in shock from blood loss, her skin pale and cold to the touch. She was sweating and was half asleep. Gabriel felt his heart swell in joy.

"M-Mrs P-Petra! I-it's me!" Gabriel said gently cradling her head in his arms.

"G-Gabriel?" Petra weakly said. "I-it's y-you."

"I-I'm h-here!" Gabriel cried.

"I c-can't feel my legs." Petra shivered. Gabriel looked down to see what was left of her lower legs. It was like someone had stuck her limbs into an industrial meat grinder. Gabriel gulped as he gently laid her head down and moved to her legs. He then felt her small hand gently grab his. "G-Gabriel, i-I'm so cold." Petra whined. Gabriel took off his ripped cloak and wrapped it around her to help make her more comfortable.

"I-I'm g-gonna s-s-save you!" Gabriel reassured her taking her hand in both of his. "I-I'll g-get y-you b-back I-I-I p-promise!" Petra felt a weak smile crawl across her face, she felt good knowing now, at the very least she wouldn't die all alone. Gabriel got to work as he tried to figure out how to get here out of here. He was worried if he moved her too much she'd get more injured. He then figured there had to be at least one wagon left behind with horses, he remembered his class when they said that due to the high losses, extra wagons would be abandoned in the field to avoid wasting time and life. He looked back at Petra and held her hand again.

"I-I'm c-coming b-back." Gabriel promised. "I-I n-need t-to f-find a w-wagon."

"Okay." Petra said weakly smiling as Gabriel took off again.

**Xxx**

Levi was filled with sorrow.

First he had heard Eren's Titan roar and knew something bad had happened. When he headed for the source of noise he saw his squad, lifeless and bloodied. Gunther, Eld, Oluo, and Petra. Four he had come close to over the years, four people whose skill allowed them to survive this long. Levi knew they weren't immortal and that statistically, one or two of them would eventually get killed down the line.

But all four of them, in one mission? He had grown fond of Petra over the years and she never held back in declaring her admiration for him. He was devastated to see the other dead bodies, but to see Petra, it was killing him so bad inside.

When he finally engaged the female titan he had left her utterly helpless against him. Part of him wanted to rip her to shreds even more but he didn't allow his emotions to rule over his judgement. Mikasa has stupidly gone in for the kill and if Levi hadn't pushed her out of the way, she too would be dead. This came at the cost of a broken ankle for him.

Once they saved Eren had arrived at the rally point, Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. Search parties looked everywhere but he was nowhere to be found. Commander Erwin, seeing a horde of titans approaching, called off the search effort declaring the missing as KIA. It had been ugly, the new recruits all fervently resisted leaving without Gabriel but they had no choice. Levi had to once more ignore his pain and get everyone who was still alive out of there. He looked at the wagon holding the recruits. All held somber looks full of agony. Levi wanted to scream, his eyes burned as the tears he was holding in begged to be released.

No, he had to be strong. He couldn't let everyone see him succumb to despair, it would destroy whatever little morale there was after this absolute disaster of a mission. This had been the deadliest and costliest expedition since the failed Operation to Retake Wall Maria. He gritted his teeth as he pushed forward.

**Xxx**

Gabriel's luck had finally turned for the best, he found not only a wagon but two horses still attached to it! The horses, having no need to fear the titans, simply sat there and grazed.

"Yes!" He said as he flew back to where Petra was. When he arrived he could see she was unconscious. He was scared that she had died but he could see her breathing. He gently picked her up and carried her to the wagon. When he arrived he went to go lay her down and head back to the walls but was distracted by a scream.

"Help! HELP!" Gabriel turned to hear a man's voice calling for help. He looked back at Petra and sighed. He knew he couldn't leave someone here to die. He looked around for a high branch to lay Petra on. He didn't want a titan to eat her while he was away. Once he ascended the tree and laid her carefully on the branch. He departed to go find the source of the voice. It didn't take long when he saw a scout who was trapped underneath a large log. Gabriel quickly shot down to him. The scout turned and joy overtook him as tears of relief came from his eyes. "H-Heimer! Please get me out of here!" He cried.

"I-I will!" Gabriel said as he ran to the log and put his arms underneath it.

"That won't work! It's too heav-" the scout cried only to see Gabriel lift the log high enough he could scoot out. The scout slowly inched out to reveal a compound fracture in his right shin. Gabriel carefully picked him up and ascended into the sky.

"Thank you! Thank you!" The scout cried. "I thought they left us here to die!"

"I w-won't l-leave a-anyone!" Gabriel reassured him as he approached the branch Petra was on. Gabriel gently laid the injured scout down next to her.

"Petra?" The scout cried in horror. She was one of the best! How did she get so wounded? The scout observed her injuries and looked back to Gabriel.

"I'll clean up her wounds! Keep searching for more wounded! I heard others!" The scout said. Gabriel nodded as he took off with vigor as the scout went to tend to Petras injuries while ignoring the pain of his own. Gabriel found another scout whose entire chest was caved in. They were barely able to speak and their breathing was labored.

"J-just l-leave m-me…." The scout said. "I'm d-dead."

"No!" Gabriel cried. "I-I w-won't l-leave you h-here!" Gabriel very carefully scooped the Scout up and carried them to the branch the other wounded were on. Gabriel continued this process, finding more and more wounded who had been left behind. Their injuries varied from broken bones to completely mangled midsections but Gabriel didn't leave anyone behind. He was getting exhausted, carrying this many people was starting to tire him out. After forty minutes had passed, Gabriel had saved thirteen scouts who were still alive. He looked out and listened for anymore cries of help, his hearing had always been good but he heard nothing. He wanted to go out and check but he knew some of the Scouts weren't going to live much longer without medical help. He sniffled and prayed no one else had been left out there. He then began the process of lowering the wounded carefully into the wagon. He could thundering footsteps in the distance and knew titans were approaching. He quickened his pace as moans of pain were heard from his quick movements.

"S-sorry b-but t-t-titans a-are c-coming!" He apologized.

"I can still fight if it comes to that." A woman said. She had torn a ligament in her leg, compared to the other injuries she saw, she was relatively unharmed. If she did fight she had to avoid using her bad leg to much.

"Get going! We are all set here!" The scout with compound fracture said. Gabriel nodded as he hopped over the carriage and took the reins. Just as he did, several titans broke out from the tree line eager to get a snack.

"SHIT!" Gabriel immediately ushered the horses to run as the wagon began to move forward. With this much weight the titans were getting close. Gabriel continued to push the horses as hard as he could. It would soon get dark, once the sun set, the titans wouldn't be able to move. He could hear the stomps of the titans growing louder and closer as more approached from the distance. He prayed the female titan wouldn't show up.

"C-cmon!" He yelled as the horses began to whinny in protest from the hard labor. Gabriel felt bad for pushing them so hard but they would all die if the horses stopped moving. Gabriel looked back and saw how dangerously close the the titans were. He gasped as he tried to figure out what to do next. He then got an idea which probably wouldn't work but at the very least it would lighten the load of the horses.

"S-someone d-d-drive t-the h-horses!" He yelled. Everyone turned to him as the scout with the torn ligament slowly limped over.

"Do you have a plan?" She asked as she took the reins from him.

"I-I think!" He yelled as he stood up and jumped off the wagon much to everyone's horror.

"Heimer what the fuck are you doing?" Gabriel ignored him as he began to sprint forward, grabbing the reins and pulling them. The drop in weight and the extra muscle allowed the horses to gain speed and slowly but surely the titans behind began to fall back. Gabriel pushed and ran with all his Might. He was so tired, from fighting titans all day to getting knocked out to carrying all these scouts. His body screamed in protest but he pushed on. Humans were the best long distance runners in the animal kingdom and Gabriel was a very in shape human. Those on the wagon couldn't believe what they were seeing. Gabriel was a human mule, his large muscles ached in pain as his vision grew dizzy. Soon the walls came within sight.

**Xxx**

Commander Erwin walked emotionless as citizens verbally abused him for this failure of a mission.

"How many died this time huh?"

"Was it worth it?"

"They all died for nothing didn't they?" Eren whom had just came to, was infuriated at the comments but a tearful Mikasa kept him at bay. Eren was confused as to why she was crying. He looked around and saw Armin, Jean, Christa, Ymir, Bertholdt, Connie, and Reiner all either crying or holding grim looks. Eren noticed he didn't see Gabriel anywhere.

"No!" He trembled. His fear was confirmed when he saw Sasha curled into a ball clutching her chest. Eren knew Sasha had feelings for Gabriel and her reaction solidified his fears.

Gabriel was dead. He grabbed his head and gritted his teeth. Fucking titans! How much more were they gonna take? His mother and home weren't enough?

"Eren…" Mikasa said.

"H-he's gone?" Eren asked hyperventilating. Mikasa just threw her arms around him as the Scouts endured relentless verbal abuse. Levi, forcing himself to walk despite his injury, he didn't want the public to see he had gotten injured. He had zoned everything out as he relieved seeing his dead squad.

"Excuse me? Captain Levi?" Levi didn't even turn his head as a man came up to him. "I'm Petras father, I was gonna ask where is she?"

"_FUCK!" _Levi thought. He couldn't do it, he couldn't tell him right now his daughter had been slaughtered. The man didn't get the hint and continued to go on on how much Petra cared for him.

"Personally I think she's a bit young to be considering marriage but-" That was it, Levi couldn't hold it anymore. He opened his mouth to let out the scream he was holding in when a most unexpected bit of news reached his ears.

"There's another wagon!" A garrison trooper atop the wall said. This caught everyone's attention, everyone who was still alive had been in the group that came back. How could there be a wagon. "There's titans closing in on them!" Hearing this, Erwin immediately turned and used his gear to ascend the wall. Once he arrived up top, the garrison trooper gander Erwin his scope.

"Commander look!" The trooper said. Erwin took the scope and couldn't believe what he saw! Gabriel was pulling the wagon along with two horses with a wagon full of injured scouts. Erwin allowed a laugh to leave his mouth. "OPEN THE GATES! ANYONE ABLE BODIED GET UP HERE NOW!" He yelled. Levi suppressed the pain he was feeling and shut up along with a dozen other scouts. When they reached the top they saw it.

"Heimer!" Levi cried out. This kid was truly unbelievable!

"Cannons Fire!" The garrison soldier ordered as multiple cannons fired at the approaching titans. Gabriel watched as cannonballs streaked past overhead and slammed into the titans. While it probably didn't kill them, it would buy him much needed time. He went balls to the wall as the gate slowly opened. He was almost there! He had to push!

"AHHHHHHHH!" He yelled as he finally passed through the gate. The gate was immediately shut as Gabriel collapsed to his knees hyperventilating and clutching his sides.

"We got wounded here!" A scout on the wagon said as teams of medics and doctors immediately flooded the area. Gabriel's world grew dark as his body finally collapsed. Levi immediately came back down from the wall to the wounded wagon. Maybe, just maybe!

"C-Captain." Levi's world stooped as he saw Petra extending out her hand to him. Levi slowly took it and held it tight. She was still here.

"Captain, we need to get her to a surgeon!" A medic said.

"Right." Levi said stepping away as he watched several medics escort Petra off the wagon. He turned to the unconscious Gabriel who had been dog piled by his friends.

"_Hei- Gabriel, thank you for bringing her back."_

**Xxxx**

**Got some inspiration for this after watching Hacksaw Ridge, check it out it's a great movie!**

**R&R!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20.**

Gabriel slowly opened his eyes as he came to. The last thing he remembered was rushing towards the gate. His body was very sore, it hurt just to move his arms.

"Well I've certainly never seen someone sleep for over 24 hours before." Gabriel turned to see Commander Erwin sitting at the desk in the room.

"C-commander?" Gabriel asked.

"Here." Erwin said bringing a steaming plate of beef over to him. "This is my gift to you, I'm sure your hungry."

"F-for me?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes." Erwin said. Gabriel looked back at the meat and sniffed the aroma. It certainly did smell good! He was also very hungry! He then took some of the beef and held it out to Erwin.

"Oh no, this is yours, trust me when I say you above all else have earned it." Erwin said chuckling at the boys kind behavior. Gabriel then proceeded to inhale the food to quell the aching emptiness in his stomach. Erwin allowed him to eat uninterrupted. Once Gabriel was finished he pat his full stomach and let out a content sigh. "Now that you've eaten I have a few things to say."

"Hmm?" Gabriel asked.

"I-" Erwin paused. "I'm actually at a loss for words, Gabriel, do you have any idea what you did?" Gabriel then remembered all that happened, seeing all the dead bodies.

"I-IM SORRY!" Gabriel cried out. "I-I t-tried t-to s-save S-Superman's s-squad I-I-I r-really d-did-" Erwins eyes raised at the outburst.

"No no no!" Erwin said trying to reassure him.

"M-MISS P-PETRA! I-IS S-S-SHE A-ALRIGHT!?" Gabriel yelled.

"I'll be honest with you Gabriel, she's in rough shape. Both her legs were amputated below the knee and she lost a lot of blood. She got numerous infections and right now she's asleep trying to fight it off." Erwin said sadly. Gabriel brought his hands to his head in grief. "But I can assure you, had you not saved her, we would have lost her for sure."

"H-huh?" He innocently asked.

"Gabriel, you went and searched and saved thirteen scouts when you could have just left them to come back here" Erwin said. "The amount of bravery and devotion that took was immeasurable."

"W-why d-did y-you l-leave m-me?" Gabriel asked sadly. Erwin sighed.

"We looked everywhere for you, dozens of scouts did, we searched for over an hour but no one could find you. Titans were closing in and we couldn't risk any more casualties. I hope you understand." Erwin confessed. His job called for him to be very cold hearted but this time, he felt genuine guilt for having to leave Gabriel. "Gabriel, understand yesterday was one of the most embarrassing and terrible defeats ever for the Scout Regiment, we lost over a third of our force including skilled veterans. The people were not pleased to say the least, morale was the lowest I had ever seen. But when you came over the horizon, risking your own life and suffering through pain to save those wounded, it was the light in the darkness we needed. For many, it reminded us that there was still good in this awful world. While we can't bring back the dead, you saved thirteen families from horrific grief. You are the one soldier in ten thousand, your strength and loyalty puts you well above the rest."

"R-really?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes, above even your strength, you bring joy wherever you go, your presence has a significant effect on those around you. You've shown us what it means to be human, something many have forgotten. So many people have fallen into despair, valuing their riches over human life, killing for money, drinking and gambling their life away, not once paying any mind to those around them. You aren't like that, you bring peace and joy to those around you, I hope you realize this." Erwin said wholeheartedly. Gabriel let an embarrassed smile crawl over his face from the praise. "I have to go now, I'm sure your friends will be thrilled to see you."

"A-are t-they h-here?" Gabriel asked. He couldn't wait to hug them all again!

"Not now I'm afraid, they have duties they needed to attend to." Erwin said. He didn't want to ruin Gabriel's mood by telling him Eren was going to be handed over to the MP for the scouts failure. "Rest up soldier, you've earned it."

**Xxxx**

Levi sat next to Petra, applying cold rags as her body tried to fight off the infection within her. She groaned in pain from the amputation surgery as well. Levi worried about her, being a soldier was something she took so much pride in, with these injuries she would never be able to use ODM gear again. Levi couldn't believe she was still alive, he swore when he went past her she was dead. He felt horrible about the fate of his squad but, at least Petra had come back.

"Excuse me Captain." Levi turned to see a doctor enter. "I understand you want to be here but we have to do more stitches and treatments."

"Understood." Levi said as he got up. He took one last look at Petra as the doctor closed the door.

"_Please stay alive." _Levi prayed as he limped out. His ankle was sprained and would fracture if he put too much pressure on it. The doctor said he'd be out for some time. Levi silently cursed Mikasa, he was extremely angry at her. First she insulted his dead squad saying they should have done their jobs when Eren was captured and then she disobeyed a direct order to not attack the female titan which resulted in this injury in the first place.

"_I knew I made the right choice not choosing her, speaking of which-"_ Levi thought. He had not seen Gabriel yet. The last he heard, Gabriel was still asleep from his miraculous endeavor. Levi still couldn't believe it, that boy, no, that _man_ saved all those wounded and brought them back. He heard tales of old myths where the ancient gods of legends would grant people with super abilities to accomplish an impossible task, perhaps that's what happened here? Levi scoffed at the idea as he made his way to the mess hall, he was overdue for a cup of tea. Levi made his way over there and opened the tea drawer to find it empty.

"_Fuck does it ever fail?" _He thought.. He did not want to risk going to a shop with his injury so he just sat there and pondered. He was alone in the dark mess hall and enjoyed the silence after the battle the day before. He heard the door creak open and in walked a familiar face.

"S-Superman?" Levi didn't need to turn his head to know who it was.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Levi asked nonchalantly as he tapped his fingers on the table.

"U-um…" Gabriel said twiddling his thumbs. "I-I d-don't w-want y-y-you t-to b-be a-alone.." Levi felt touched by the comment. Gabriel was one of the few presences he could tolerate.

"I appreciate it but you really should get some rest-" Levi said.

"I-I h-have t-t-tea." Gabriel said holding up a cylinder of black tea.

"Well please take a seat then." Levi said as Gabriel walked over and sat across from him. "What kind is it?"

"E-e-eerl g-gay?" Gabriel said trying to figure out what the cylinder said in the dark.

"Earl Grey?" Levi said now interested. That was his favorite tea in the whole world. Not to mention one of the most expensive. To acquire some required a handsome amount of money and a trip to Wall Sina. "Where did you get that?"

"I-I-it's f-for y-you." Gabriel said. This caused Levi's eyes to raise.

"What do you mean 'for me?'" Levi asked. Enlisted shouldn't be giving officers gifts like that, it was against regulation.

"M-miss P-Petra s-said a-awhile a-ago t-that t-today w-was y-your b-birthday." Gabriel said. Levi was in awe, he had not received a birthday gift in a long time, he was even more in shock that people actually knew it. "Y-you p-played w-with m-me o-on m-mine s-so I w-wanted t-to g-get y-you s-s-something."

"Gabriel I-" Levi said. He would never admit but this actually made him happy that someone not only remembered his birthday but got him a gift! Let alone at a time as awful as this. The hard walls of his cold heart began to crack. He allowed a smile to take over his face. He had grown fond of Gabriel but was slowly growing attached to him. "Thank you, I needed this." He then noticed Gabriel crying.

"Hey? What the hell are you crying for?" Levi asked.

"I-I'm s-sorry I c-couldn't s-save E-Eld, G-g-Gunther, and O-O-Oluo!" Gabriel said sadly. Levi watched as Gabriel let out genuine guilt.

"Don't." Levi said as Gabriel looked up. "Against the female titan, even I wouldn't have been able to get them out of there. You brought Petra back, that alone is truly something I'm grateful for. Most people would have just left her there to save their own skin."

"A-are t-they I-in h-heaven?" Gabriel asked. "A-auntie u-used t-to s-say g-good p-people w-went t-to a b-beautiful p-place c-called H-heaven w-when t-they d-die." Levi took a deep breath, part of him wished to believe there was something waiting after this wretched existence. A place he could see his mother, Isabel, and Farlan again. He found it hard to believe in a paradise when life on Earth was hell from day one. Levi decided not to ruin Gabriel's innocence.

"Yes." Levi said. "Now let's get some tea made." He said getting up to go boil water. He wasn't sure of a Heaven existing but one thing he was sure of was that if there was a heaven then Gabriel deserved more than anyone to go there.

**Xxx**

**Ugh Gabriel's too sweet!**

**Let me know what you all think so far!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

The general atmosphere had not improved. Despite Gabriel's heroic rescue, a lot of scouts had died and Eren was to be handed over to the military police. Gabriel was unaware of all of this as he made his way towards Stohess District. He wanted to see his friends but was told they were busy with duties so he decided to go pay Annie a visit. He walked through the district with people making way for him due to his large stature. He was wearing his Scout Regiment uniform so he was able to get into the MP barracks without much trouble aside from a few cruel remarks about the scouts most recent failure. He paid no mind to it as he looked for Annie's room. He eventually found it and knocked on the door. It opened to reveal a barely clothed girl with ash colored hair. She had either just woke up or got out of the shower. She wore a towel around her waist and nothing more than a bra which heavily exposed her cleavage.

"Who are you?" She asked as Gabriel covered his eyes burning red.

"U-U-um!" Gabriel said nervously not wanting to look at the barely clothed girl out of embarrassment.

"Hitch who is it? And put some clothes on would you?" Gabriel heard Annie's voice in the room.

"Some scout." Hitch said. Annie felt her heart stop momentarily. "What's your name?" Hitch asked Gabriel.

"G-guh-ugh-" Gabriel tried to say but couldn't force out. Hitch found it quite amusing how he was so nervous in front of her like this. Perhaps she could mess with him more? He was quite a hunk after all.

"What's wrong?" Hitch said inching closer, enjoying this a little too much. She knew she had looks and Marlowe was too uptight to take the hint.

"ANNIE!" Gabriel yelled as he saw the blonde standing behind Hitch. Gabriel brushed past Hitch who let out an irritated sigh. Annie gulped when she saw Gabriel run towards her. She was rigid, tensed up as can be. She couldn't see him! Not now! "I-I m-missed y-you!" Gabriel cried lifting her up with a hug. Hitch sighed as she walked to the shower and left the two alone. Annie clenched her teeth as Gabriel hugged her tightly. She didn't even return the hug as Gabriel put her down. She looked and saw the big ugly bruise on his face and felt her stomach twist a know.

"Y-you w-were r-right." Gabriel said sadly.

"Huh?" Annie said gulping.

"T-the m-mission, a-a l-l-lot of b-b-b-bad t-things h-happened." Gabriel said referring to her warning some weeks prior. Annie was sweating bullets as he lowered his head in sadness. "S-s-Superman's s-squad d-d-dies a-and m-ms P-Petra m-might d-die!" Annie turned and looked away, she couldn't bring herself to look at him right now.

"A-and t-then a g-girl t-Titan a-almost a-ate me!" Gabriel continued. Annie bit her lower up at hearing this. "S-she k-killed s-so m-many p-people! I-I h-hate h-h-her!" Gabriel growled clenching his fists tightly. If it weren't for her, Ms Petra and the others would be alive and healthy. Annie couldn't take anymore, she promptly got up and walked towards the door. Gabriel saw this and followed her.

"H-hey w-what's w-wrong?" Gabriel asked gently. Annie choked up.

"Nothing!" She said, she couldn't even look at him right now.

"Y-you're m-my b-buddy, y-you c-can t-tell m-me." Gabriel said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Annie froze at the touch.

"_No I can't, you'd hate me forever."_ Annie thought sadly when she felt arms wrapped around her.

"I-I'll a-always g-give y-you h-hugs w-when y-you're s-sad." Gabriel said so full of compassion. Annie slowly turned and put her head on his chest. Here he was hugging and comforting her, what if he knew? Would he still be so caring? Annie could hear his heartbeat, so slow and calm. She was burning up, why did there have to be people like this? Why did she ever accept that damn mission? There was no turning back now, she knew that. All that time being cold and emotionless hadn't driven feelings from her fully. Gabriel, he first friend, so kind and so gentle to everyone. She didn't deserve to be his friend, still, the thought of him hating her was worse than death in her eyes. She slowly looked up to see those innocent blue eyes of his. Maybe, if there were no titans, maybe she could have married him. Those pleasant thoughts turned to pain realizing it wasn't possible. She didn't care though as she pulled Gabriel's head in and gave him a deep kiss on the lips. Gabriel gasped at what was happening! He had never kissed anyone before! He wasn't supposed to kiss girls like this unless they were in love! Sure he loved her as a friend but not like this!Annie quickly pulled away, so many conflicting emotions running through her. She looked back up at Gabriel who looked so very confused.

"W-what-" Gabriel tried to say.

"I have to go!" Annie said holding back tears as she ran out her room into the hallway. Gabriel quickly followed.

"W-wait!" He called out. Annie kept going till she ran outside and disappeared. Gabriel ran out but could not see her anywhere! He began to run through the streets calling her name hoping to find her. After ten minutes he came to an empty alleyway and saw her being restrained by several scouts.

"S-stop! Y-you're hurting h-her!" He cried. Annie looked him in the eyes. He then looked and saw Eren, Mikasa, and Armin in the entryway below. Annie fought and fought but could not escape these scouts. They had gagged her mouth so she couldn't bite her tongue to transform. She the flicked her ring which revealed a small sharp nail and prepared to use it when she took one last longing look at Gabriel.

"I'm sorry Gabriel, you will hate me now." Annie said cutting her finger. Gabriel didn't have time to react as the yellow light engulfed the area killing all the scouts who were restraining her. Gabriel was blown back as debris flew everywhere. Once he regained his bearings he quickly looked to see where Annie went. His gaze looked up and horror engulfed his chest.

No.

No!

NOOOOO! She was here! Annie was the Female Titan! Annie looked down at him, sadness in her eyes. Gabriel growled as something took over again. All those dead bodies, all those times he hugged her, all those times she said he was her friend. He snapped, he would kill her with his bare hands! He didn't care if he had no ODM gear, he'd claw this evil bitch out with his own hands if he had too.

"**DAMN YOU!**" He roared. Annie quickly grabbed him and picked him up as she started to run. Maybe if she explained to him why she was doing this, maybe he'd understand, maybe he'd come with her to live with her. Deep down she knew these were lies. She really just wanted him because she loved him. Damn everyone else on the island, she'd make sure that he would live!

"GABRIEL!" Gabriel heard Armin call out for him but he was too angry, beyond furious to even notice or care. Annie continued to run dodging scouts whom she had no qualms killing only enraging Gabriel even more. Annie ran as she noticed steam coming from her hand. She looked and saw Gabriel was legit biting away chunks of flesh like a rabid dog. As small as he looked in her hand, he was red, his veins in his forehead popping out as the murderous intent to rip her apart was etched across his face.

"**FUCKING BITCH! I'll KILL YOU!" **He screamed. Annie felt hurt by these words but she pressed on. Gabriel continued to bite away at her flesh. Oh if he had ODM gear the things he would do to her! His fantasies of hearing her scream as he made her pay for what she did numbed him from the pain he was feeling over her betrayal. Once he saw his biting was doing nothing to slow her down. He resorted to using words, unleashing the full hate in his heart.

"**YOU'RE RIGHT! I DO **_**FUCKING HATE YOU!**_" He screamed. Annie suddenly stopped running after hearing this. Those words she feared, she knew it was coming and that she deserved it but actually hearing them…. The pure venom and rage in his voice stabbed her through her soul. Annie brought him to her face, tears leaking out of her Titan eyes. Only twenty minutes ago he had been so kind and full of happiness. "**Ugly! That's what you are! Lying to me all this time! I wish I killed you! I wish you would burn! I wish your father beat you like mine did to me! You repulsive, ugly, EVIL WHORE BITCH!"** Annie closed her eyes as her entire Titan body quivered from those words. He was cut off when another bright yellow light lit up the sky. Annie knew what that was, a fight was coming her way. She looked back at Gabriel who was still thrashing. She knew a fight was coming and she couldn't risk him getting hurt. She gently laid him down and he quickly got to his feet. She leaned in and placed a kiss on him, careful not to knock him over.

"**GET YOUR DISGUSTING MOUTH OFF OF ME! I swear I'm going to get some gear, and I'll carve you to pieces! First your Titan body! AND THEN YOU-**" Gabriel felt the ground shake as a fist plowed Annie right into a building causing it to collapse. Gabriel looked to see Eren's Titan steaming with anger. It was obvious he was as pissed off as Gabriel was. Eren charged forward as the two began to exchange blows. Eren was pissed, this fight wouldn't be like their last one, not by a long shot, this time, he would murder her! Eren shot off after Annie as several scouts landed next to Gabriel including Mikasa, Armin, and Jean.

"Gabriel!" Mikasa cried. This was the first time she had seen him since he came back with the wounded scouts. He ignored her and went straight towards Jean who has happy to seem him up and walking.

"Heimer! You're okay! I thought you bit it! I knew you could pull through! You are the be-" Jean tried to say.

"**Give me your gear.**" Gabriel interrupted coldly.

"Huh?" Jean asked confused.

"**Did I stutter?" **Gabriel warned grabbing him by the collar. Jeans eyes widened in fear. Armin gasped knowing Gabriel had lost it again.

"Gabe, please calm down!" Armin pleaded.

"**Shut up!" **Gabriel snapped as a hand gently touched his shoulder.

"Gabe, please." Mikasa said sadly. She hated seeing him like this. "This isn't who you are." Mikasa was one of the very few who could get him to calm down. She had missed him and wanted to see him again to badly, especially after what he did to save to all those wounded. Gabriel breathed heavily as he let go of Jean. While he calmed down, he was still in rage mode.

"**I have to kill her, I'm the only one who can." **Gabriel said, clenching his teeth. "**All those years I spent time with her, she had the gall to kiss me!" **Had the situation not been so dire, this would have been an interesting story. Jean relented as he took off his gear. While he too wanted a shot at Annie for almost killing him, he knew he didn't stand a chance against her. Plus, with Captain Levi injured, the combined strength of Eren, Mikasa, and Gabriel was their only hope. Gabriel put on the gear and took one look at Mikasa as they two sped off to help Eren leaving Armin and Jean.

"Jesus!" Jean said holding his throat. "I knew when he got mad, he got _mad!_ But still-"

"You know that isn't him Jean." Armin said sadly. "He was really close with Annie, as hard as this is for all of us, it must be awful for him." Titan roars and explosions could be heard in the distance.

"I'm worried about him." Jean said. "If he flipped out like that over Annie, I can only imagine what he'll do when he sees the Armored Titan again…"

**Read and Review please! Reviews motivate me to pump out more chapters!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Mikasa was full of worry right now, both Eren and Gabriel had given into rage. What worried her most was how angry Gabriel had become. He had lost control many times over the years but never had he ever laid a finger on anyone he cared about. When he had grabbed Jean by the collar and demanded his ODM gear she was worried that he might hit him. Jean was by no means a pushover due to his many fights with Eren over the years but against someone as physically powerful as Gabriel, he'd have no chance. While she too hated Annie for what she had done, she had never liked her much in the first place. Eren had been furious, as evidenced by his flaming Titan form, Gabriel? He had been so innocent, he loved Annie like a sister. The snap in him must have been horrid. She watched as he clenched his teeth as he flew towards her. She didn't like seeing him like this at all, this wasn't him. Gabriel was kind and loving, not bloodthirsty and rageful.

"Gabriel, I know this hard-" She tried to say.

"**Shut it." **Gabriel growled back. Mikasa gasped, he had never talked to her like that before. "**Understand this, the bitch is mine, stop me, and I'll kill you too.**" This wasn't happening, he just threatened her life! Mikasa bit her lip as they approached the brawling titans. Eren had grabbed a hold of her head and was squeezing tightly. The agonizing roar of pain and fear coming from Annie was not enough for Eren, she had to die, plain and simple. Eren was too focused on his anger that he didn't see Annie had come loose and she kicked him away. Annie knee she had to get out of there! With both Eren and Gabriel coming after with a lust for vengeance, she was doomed if she stayed here. She sprinted to the wall and crystallized her fingers to begin scaling it. Once she got a good a good distance away she would hunker down and slowly move towards the ocean. There she could summon a ship to get her. She knew was waiting for her failure but at this point it didn't matter anymore. She wanted to see her father, and come back to save Gabriel from what was to come.

"**Going somewhere?"** Annie froze as her vision went dark. Oh no, if he was here, then she was doomed…. Gabriel and Mikasa worked together flaying away at her tissue trying to render her limbs useless. She had already hardened her nape and these two weren't as fast as Levi. She grunted, she had no problem crushing Mikasa, maybe she would bite her in half, but Gabriel? She couldn't do it. The two scouts finally cut her fingers and she felt herself go into free fall. Her eyes finally healed and she opened them to see Mikasa standing on her nose.

"Annie, fall." She said wickedly as Annie fell to the ground where a rabid Eren awaited. He took no time ripping Annie's Titan to shreds, tearing away limbs and whatever else he could get his hands on

"**Do it Eren!"** Gabriel cried out. "**Crush her!" **He wanted to be one to deal the final blow but even in his angered state he knew it'd be suicide to get in between that right now. Eren roared as he tore the female titans head clean off. The female slumped over as Eren bit away the nape exposing Annie who simply closed her eyes and was crying. Mikasa turned to see Gabriel smiling but it wasn't his normal smile, this one was much for twisted…

"**Yes! Do it! Bite her in half!" **Gabriel changes disturbing Mikasa to no end. She was afraid he couldn't snap out of this one. Just as Eren was about to end Annie's life, his own Titan suddenly slumped down and began to steam away. "**WHAT!"** Gabriel screamed. Mikasa couldn't see him but knew there was only one who could have cut Eren out of his Titan that quickly.

"Don't kill our source of intel you dumbass." Levi said to the unconscious boy. His winced in pain as his leg flared up. Despite Erwins protests, Levi couldn't leave two fighting titans to duke it out in a city. Levi looked at Annie and felt the same rage as Eren, this bitch killed his squad and crippled Petra. He quickly calmed his emotions knowing they needed her to talk. He hopped off Eren's Titan as Annie's body began to crystallize in a hard transparent shell. He landed on the ground with the unconscious Eren when a large boy landed in front of him.

"**What the hell?"** Gabriel screamed which caught Levi off guard. "**Why the fuck did you stop him? He had her!**"

"Heimer just what the hell do you think you're doing right now?" Levi threatened. This must have been one of his freakout episodes. Gabriel growled walking up to him and staring him down.

"**So she kills your squad and you just saved her life? What kind of Captain are you?" **Gabriel yelled, grabbing Levi by the collar and attempting to hoist him up. He never succeeded as Levi swung out his arms to break the hold and kicked Gabriel with all his might in the stomach with his good leg. Gabriel gagged as the powerful blow knocked the wind out of him. Gabriel didn't have time to react as Levi struck him again in the face.

"Never put your hands on me again _boy!_" Levi ordered angrily. He was very pissed off that he had grabbed him and then mocked him over his dead squad. Levi knew he was in a different state of mind right now and actually felt bad about kicking him but he was not going to allow this behavior to go unpunished. Mikasa quickly landed next to Gabriel and looked up at Levi with a death glare. "Don't you even start Ackerman, because of you is why I'm injured in the first place!" Mikasa grunted, despite her anger, she knew he was right. If he had been here at full ability then he could have taken Annie out before she started her rampage. Gabriel continued to cough as he looked around confused. He saw Levi looking angrily at him and Mikasa by his side. Levi looked and saw his eyes were back to normal. Gabriel continued to look around and gulped when he pieced together what happened.

"I-I-I d-did I-it a-again?" He asked shamefully. Levi's face went from angry to comforting as he knelt down in front of Gabriel who was still on his knees.

"Yes you did, you tried to grab me." Levi said. Gabriel whimpered in guilt.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry!" He said sniffling. "I-I d-didn't w-want t-to h-hurt anyone!"

"Gabe you're back!" Mikasa said hugging him tightly. It had hurt her heart so badly to see him unlike himself. She could hear other troops yelling loudly, from what she heard, Annie had encased herself in an impenetrable crystal meaning all this had been for nothing!

"Gabriel." Levi said. "You assaulted an officer _again._ If you can't get this under control, we can not have you with us, do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Y-yes." Gabriel said looking down. He couldn't believe he tried to hurt Superman! He felt so awful right now he wanted to throw up. Mikasa continued to hug him in a very maternal fashion as she ran her hand down his back and spoke words of encouragement to him.

"D-did I h-hurt y-you?" Gabriel asked fearing the answer.

"No." Mikasa lied, she didn't want to burden him with the death threat from earlier.

"M-mik, w-what I-if I-I-I d-Dont c-come b-back n-next t-time?" Gabriel asked full of fear. Mikasa sniffled at his pain.

"We will always be here to bring you back, we will never leave you, no matter what." Mikasa said gently.

"Please!" Gabriel cried. "I-I d-Dont w-want b-b-be a b-bad g-guy w-who h-hurts p-people!" He was so scared of becoming a monster.

"You won't, we all love you Gabriel. We will never let that happen." Mikasa said as Gabriel held onto her like a lifeline.

**Short chapter but I'd figure I'd bust out something before I catch coronavirus. No worries though, my boi Osmosis Jones got my back.**


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